...editorial
The weather did improve in time for Spring, although a
late one. Hopefully the Summer will be long and sunny
so that we can all enjoy the entertainments planned
locally.
The Fete is back after a gap of a year and promises
to be a great day – see page 10. The many attractions
include the return of the popular lawn mower racing, a
skilled and daring mountain bike team, and there will be
live animals to pet, including snakes and lizards! There
will be a magician, fairground rides, an egg throwing
competition, as well as many stalls, food etc.
On page 64 we have a report on the recent
archeological dig, and do look at What’s On, page 67 to
see what events are being held in nearby villages during
the summer.
In this issue we begin a regular feature of articles from
past newspapers, ‘What the papers say’. The reporting
was often unconventional and funny and was frequently
by Percy R Salmon FRS, known locally as ‘Peepbo’,
who retired to the village after an adventurous life as a
journalist and photographer during WWI.
He went out to Egypt with Kitchener, living in
Jerusalem, and travelling extensively through the Middle
East, often wearing local dress. After retiring to Melbourn
he continued working as a journalist for local papers for
over twenty years. We start with a collection of cuttings
that Percy took from various local papers, creating a
number of volumes on the life and times of Melbourn
as seen through the eyes of the papers.
You can read about 'Peepbo' Salmon in
Issue 78, June 2014, of the Magazine on page 27.
www.issuu.com/melbourn
Our very best wishes to all students who will soon be
taking exams.
Have a wonderful summer.

Melbourn Magazine is
Independent of the
Parish Council
NO public money is used.

We would like to thank TTP for their
continued sponsorship of the magazine.
Melbourn Magazine is printed quarterly
and delivered free to every household
and business in the village.
All work on the Melbourn Magazine, including
layout and design is produced by volunteers.
The cost of printing comes entirely from
advertising and sponsorship.

If you would like to advertise in the
Melbourn Magazine see page 71 for details

A letter from Val Barrett
Former District Councillor for the Melbourn Ward
May I through the Melbourn Magazine, thank the residents who have supported
me during my tenure as District Councillor. After ten years in total on the Council,
I have decided the time has come to retire.
It has been an honour to serve the Melbourn Ward on the following
committees: Housing, Planning, Scrutiny, Licensing, Employment and Responsive
Repairs.
As District Council doesn’t get as high a profile as County Council, it being
involved with Education, Transport and Highways, I have always worked quietly
in the background responding to calls for assistance from residents.
I wish whoever follows after me, my very best wishes for the future.

Retirement of two stalwarts of
Melbourn
Last month two of Melbourn’s best known councillors stood down – Val Barrett
from the District Council and Rosemary Gatward from the Parish Council. Both
have given stalwart service to the village over a number of years and without
doubt the Parish Council will greatly miss their input. Neither of them have
enjoyed the best of health over the last few years and they have reluctantly
stepped down.
Val joined the Parish Council in the 1980’s, and later became District Councillor.
As a Parish Councillor, she was chairman of the Allotment Committee and always
particularly interested in planning and conservation. As a District Councillor
Val has worked quietly and tirelessly behind the scenes sorting out problems
for individuals in housing and planning matters and many other fields. She was
SCDC representative Governor of the Almshouses in Orchard Road, a role which
it is hoped she will continue to fill. On the District Council Val was particularly
interested in Housing and Planning and also sat on committees for Licensing and
Responsive Repairs.
Rosemary joined the Parish Council in 1979. It was a very different council in
those days – planning meetings were held in Mary Lupton’s dining room, annual
budgets were worked out in Gladys Kaye’s cottage with the help of a large sherry!
Meetings were held under the benign eye of George Hinkins with Sid Waldock
taking the minutes.
Rosemary was very keen on tree planting and every year the council was given
a number of trees to plant – and it was the councillors, who did the planting
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A date has been set for the
50th Anniversary Reunion
of All Saints’ Playgroup

Melbourn Mobile
Warden Scheme
Can we help you?
Can we help a relative?
Can we help a neighbour?

Saturday 29th September 2018
From 2pm until 8pm (approx.)
at All Saints Community Hall
Did you see the information in the spring issue of the Melbourn
Magazine? Please book the date and be looking for photos and
other memorabilia to bring along or pass on to us in advance.
We are planning to have a permanent record of all that we can
gather before and during the occasion. We are hoping this will be a
printed commemorative book. We would like photographs of each
year from 1968–2008.
At the reunion, we will display these photos and show cine films
and more recent films which document special occasions and
everyday life at the Playgroup.
Many of the helpers and committee members have been
contacted and are looking forward to seeing you all and sharing
memories. Don’t miss your opportunity to get your memories in
print.
Did you know that the All Saint’s Playgroup logo was designed by
Glynis Rudge who won the design competition?
Please telephone any of the numbers below if you can offer help or
information. We will be pleased to hear from you.
01763 220040 | 01763 221612 | 01763 261225 | 01763 260392

Who does the Scheme help?

The scheme is open to the mobility
impaired in Melbourn and Meldreth
including those who live alone or with
their families, but need the extra support
offered by our services. Couples too are
most welcome.
It is also open to those in sheltered
housing, as the scheme offers different,
but complementary services.
Note: The scheme also offers its services
for short periods to cover the temporary
absence of relatives who otherwise provide
this support.

We offer help with:

• Friendship and support via twice
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

1999

•

weekly visits and daily phone calls
Ordering and collection of prescriptions
Basic shopping
Collection of pensions
Setting up Lifeline service
Bereavement support
Advice on benefits
Going to the Post Office to pay your
bills
Advice on getting repairs done in your
home
Arranging transport to the hospital or
other appointments
Just coming round for a chat

What will it cost?
We do have to make a small weekly
charge for the warden’s services.
The fee is only £7 per week
(a little more for couples).
Jeannie Seers (Mobile Warden)
07808 735066
email jeanseers1@ntlworld.com

and the follow up watering – there wasn’t the luxury of
a handyman in those days. Trees hedges and bulbs were
planted all over the village.
Rosemary served on the Rural Footpath Committee,
Play Areas, Conservation and Planning. When planning
applications came in for new build she was always most
concerned to know what colour the bricks and roof tiles
would be so that everything blended into the local scene.
Rosemary fought long and hard to keep 83 High Street, the
old Working Men’s Clubhouse, which became the British
Legion Hut, and is now a pretty little garden with a seat. There
was also a struggle to keep the Fire Engine House in Station
Road, it appeared on the agenda every month for years until
eventually in 1987 the council received a grant to have it
restored. Because the doors open out over the pavement it
could never really be used for anything other than storage and
it was a source of irritation to Rosemary that the village bier
was not installed in there.
Being part of the council was fun, there was much laughter,
she made many friends and learned a great deal on the way.
Ron Peer the former head of MVC was a councillor for many
years and it was due to him that meetings were held in the
Village College. The meetings were lengthy, Mr. Oakey the
caretaker would get very niggled at having to wait for the
meeting to finish and on one occasion he locked everyone
in. Fortunately, Ron Peer’s study was on the ground floor so
everyone climbed out of the window onto the flower beds.
The building of the bypass was another battle – only long
term residents will remember the bitter rivalry between the
east and west factions and Rosemary & Val both remember
sitting through the ‘day after’ the Enquiry. It was to heal the
wounds that the Village Fete was revived.
With her experience with young children in the All Saints
Playgroup, Rosemary was the obvious choice to be the
council’s representative on the Board of Governors at the
Primary School a position she held for many years. She also
did a spell as Chairman of the Parish Council (she would
not have wanted to be ‘Chair Person’ or ‘Chair’) and was
instrumental in securing the old Rural District Council rubbish
tip for a conservation site – now the BMX track.
Val and Rosemary have worked hard on behalf of the
village and always in the best interests of Melbourn. It is
hoped that with a little more time to relax they will begin to
enjoy better health.
Mavis Howard

Library
The Library is manned by a team of librarians who all have
a passion for books. We enjoy meeting our borrowers and
appreciate feedback as this helps us to choose new books
that will be popular. There is a special shelf above the junior
fiction where all our new books are placed, so it is always
worth having a look there for the latest titles. Our turnover
of books has increased in recent years, especially in the
junior section. Here the number of books borrowed by
younger and Primary School aged children has increased
quite dramatically. This is particularly pleasing and we are

Don Littlechild
Don, who was born in
Melbourn, sadly died
in March. Don was a
well-known, and well
loved character in
the village and lived
here for all his life
apart from his time in
the army. He and his
brother Walter joined
up in 1938, when Don
was seventeen.
He was sent to the Middle East to Baghdad with
the 10th Corps, and then joined the 8th Army in
North Africa. He was wounded three times, and spent
several months in hospital, including three months in
Cambridge.
As part of a guard group he escorted German
prisoners to America and while there visited New Jersey
and New York.
He and Gwen, who died in 2007, were married in 1948.
After the War Don got a job at the Rubber Company in
Letchworth, where he stayed until he retired.

expecting an even greater take up than usual for the county
wide summer reading challenge for Primary School children.
Please ask the librarians for details.
One of our regular librarians, Mandy, has been running
Story Time for young children every Friday at 11 am. This has
been a great success and is well attended. New children (and
their mothers) are always welcome, but please book in at the
Hub reception beforehand as spaces are limited.
Although not run by the Library, but well supported
by librarians and regular borrowers, the Ghost Stories
presented by Graham Parry at the Hub earlier in the year
was a literary experience. In suitably creepy surroundings of a
transformed Hub we were chilled to the marrow by tales of
the supernatural.
The Hub has been running Computer Training Sessions
on the first Monday of the month at 10 am. These sessions
are aimed at helping people overcome problems they
may encounter while operating Personal Computers (PCs).
Computers for practice are provided Although the most
recent session started on 14th May there will be further
sessions, details are available at the Hub reception. All sessions
are free but please book at reception as spaces are limited.
Jane Stevens

Literary lunch – Home-Start
A Literary lunch will be held on Tuesday 3rd July at 12.15pm
at The Old Bull Inn. Come and be entertained by Jude
Simpson, our Poet in Residence who will be talking to Kate
Swindlehurst, author of Parkinson’s & the Tango Effect.
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

7

Kate Swindlehurst

Tickets £15 to include a buffet lunch and tea/coffee. To
book call 01763 262262, email admin@hsrsc.org.uk or book
online through www.ticketsource.co.uk/hsrsc
How do you deal with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s? Dancing
is probably the last thing on your mind…
Parkinson’s & the Tango Effect is the story of an incredible
year in the life of a woman with Parkinson’s. It began with
a tango lesson and grew into an exploration of the healing
potential of the dance.
Quirky, intimate and unashamedly literary, the book takes
an unflinching look at the dark side but also at reasons
to celebrate. It builds on research on the impact of dance
on Parkinson’s symptoms & takes it a stage further, with a
behind-the-scenes record of private lessons and contributions
from tango teachers. It documents the emotional and social
benefits of the dance and its impact on the quality of life.
“This book is my story, a story of learning to accept myself
as I am but also refusing to be defined by Parkinson’s. It’s about
how I found a way of living with illness that is liberating.” It’s the
story of an extraordinary dance, both exotic and accessible, its
history, its music. It’s the story of what happens when the two
come together. And it’s the story of a sustaining and enduring
friendship.
Parkinson’s & the Tango Effect challenges our perceptions
of disability. It is essential reading for those with a professional
interest in dance and Parkinson’s, and for researchers in the
field.
It’s also a book for the ordinary reader, for those living with
a chronic condition, and for the tango and Parkinson’s
communities worldwide.

The New Melbourn Singers
The New Melbourn Singers, as part of the Cambridgeshire
Choral Society, once again performed at the Cambridge
University Concert Hall in West Road. This time it was two
very different settings of the Mass, Dvorak’s Mass in D Minor
and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria. The concert went well and was
enjoyed by performers and audience alike. Singing in a large
choir is an exhilarating experience so if there are any singers
out there who would like the opportunity to take part in one
of these concerts please get in touch.

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It is with great sadness that we learned shortly before
the concert that our conductor, Adrian Jacobs, was retiring.
Adrian has been with the New Melbourn Singers for 40 years
in different capacities, latterly as our wonderful conductor.
His patience, kindness and incredible musical knowledge
made every practice a delight. His endeavours with us paid
off when we were able to sing with confidence some amazing
choral works. We shall miss him but we all wish him well in
the future.
The Cambridgeshire Choral Society is putting on a day-long
singing workshop on Saturday 15th September 2018 in the
United Reformed Church, Trumpington Street, Cambridge
(not far from the Trumpington park and ride bus stop by
the Fitzwilliam Museum). This is open to all and will be a fun
and instructive day. Music will be provided. Full details can be
found on the Society’s website.
Jane Stevens

Melbourn & Meldreth
Women’s Group
We are a small friendly group and we meet on the 4th
Tuesday of the month except in December, we vary our
venue between All Saints Community Hall in Melbourn and
Holy Trinity Church Meeting Room in Meldreth. We either
have a guest speaker or in house entertainment followed by
tea/coffee and biscuits. There is a fee of £1 on the evening and
a chance to make a donation to our charity of the year which
is Cambridge Street Pastors.
On the 26 June, we will meet at our usual time of 7.45pm
in All Saints Community Hall Melbourn where we will
hear a talk about ‘Dogs for Good’ which was the charity we

Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire
are looking for Home Visiting Volunteers
Can you give a family the most precious gift
- your time?
Our volunteers are all parents or grandparents
who can give a few hours a week to help families
who are finding it difficult to cope.
All parents need emotional and practical help
to get through the first few years, but not
everyone has friends or family nearby.
This is when Home-Start volunteers can help!
For more details contact Sarah or Jackie at:
Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire, Unit 6,
Valley Farm, Station Road, Meldreth, Royston, Herts, SG8 6JP
Tel: 01763 262262 or e-mail admin@hsrsc.org.uk
www.hsrsc.org.uk
Registered Charity No 1105385

supported last year. Our July meeting is on the 24th and
this will be at Holy Trinity Church Meeting Room, again at
7.45pm, when we will have a ‘Musical Bingo Evening’. We
have yet to arrange our outing for August and details will be
confirmed nearer the time.
All our meetings begin at 7.45pm and do come along if
you’d like to, or if you want to know more please contact one
of the committee members. Pat Smith (262575) Sue Toule
(260955) Anne Harrison (261775) Angela Leach (262793) Pat
Ames and Kimmi Crosby

Melbourn Women’s Institute
Sadly, our meeting in February had to be cancelled because
of the heavy snowfall that day but fortunately our local
celebrity flautist Rachel Haynes (the daughter of one of
our members) was able to come in March and entertained
us with both a mini flute concert and a history of the
instrument. Flutes are the earliest form of musical instrument;
some having been made from holes drilled in shin bones!
Originally they were end- played but later it was found that a
stronger sound came when the instrument was side blown.
It really was an enjoyable evening.
Following on from our inspiring talk on Mercy Ships by
Veronica Weatherhead, one of our members turned up with
a basket full of colourful knitted teddies which are given to
the young patients. The simple pattern is available if anyone
likes knitting and likes a worthwhile project.
I am really looking forward to the April meeting when we
shall be entertained by Amanda Sutherland showing us her
costume collection – unfortunately this has to go to press
before I can tell you more about it. In May, there will be a
talk on Wild Life Conservation from Willers Mill and in June
you will be able look in the Diary pages to see further details.
We meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 8
pm in the Melbourn Community Hall behind the church
and membership is £41 per annum. Do come and join us.
Mavis Howard

Retirement

Opening up a world of opportunities
Have you ever heard of the U3A? Does the University of the
Third Age mean anything to you?
It’s a network of groups offering learning and social
opportunities for people who are retired or no longer in
full time employment. No, it’s not about Bingo or gossiping;
it’s about keeping up to date, extending your horizons and
stretching both mind and body.
Started in 1973, there are now over 1,000 U3As across the
UK – low-cost learning cooperatives which draw upon the
knowledge, experience and skills of their own members to
organise and provide interest groups. The teachers learn and
the learners teach. U3As can be as small as 12 and as large as
2000; Melbourn & District U3A has over 500 members with
33 groups devoted to current affairs debates, computing,
yoga, walking, quizzes, poetry, bridge, badminton, science,
croquet … the list goes on.

Every month we have a speaker; recent ones have
covered, Police dog training; the aviatrix Amy Johnson; the
responsibilities of a magistrate; the causes and treatments
for stress; walks around London. There are outings too;
how do the Isle of Wight; Stratford on Avon; the gardens at
RHS Wisley; Airbus Space Systems; the Mars lander sound?
National events encompass lectures at the Royal Institution
and the Royal Society, talks and concerts in Birmingham,
London, Cambridge etc. There are summer schools at a
number of venues, with a range of topics to stretch the
mind.
U3A Membership only costs £13 a year, speaker meetings
are free, and group get togethers only cost a couple of
pounds plus something for coffee. We meet mostly at
Melbourn Village College, All Saints Community Hall, The
Hub or Foxton Village Hall, while some smaller groups meet
in each other’s homes.
We all recognise that retirement is often accompanied
by challenges – reduced income, poorer health, less social
interaction – and the U3A can really help by keeping our
minds and bodies active. But the most striking effect is the
learning, fun and laughter it brings into our lives – once
again we are busy with lots of choices and a group of new
friends.
So, if you’re finding yourself at a loose end since retiring
and U3A sounds like something you might enjoy, come
for a taster session and meet a few people at a speaker
meeting at Melbourn Village College usually held on the
third Wednesday of the month. Tea & coffee are served at
2.45 pm, and the talk is from 3 to 4pm; come alone or bring
a friend.
Contact our Business Secretary on 01223 871132 or email
melbu3a+secretary@gmail.com
Check our website www.u3asites.org.uk/melbourn for
more information and an application form.

WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
The Village Feast
According to ancient custom Melbourn’s annual threeday feast begins on the first Thursday in July, but so
little had been heard of the event this year that little or
no feast was expected by most people, mainly because of
the many wartime rules and regulations of one kind or
another, but we have to record the coming of one of the
largest, liveliest and best patronised feasts for many a
year. It was, however, a little altered in character, the event
being more of a Fun Fair than an old-time village feast.
There were no sweet stalls or real coconuts, but their
absence was compensated by the existence of a
superabundance of swings, shooting galleries, dodgems,
roundabouts, all of which were patronised by hosts of
American, Belgian, French and Italian visitors in addition
to our own people, which made the event a cosmopolitan
affair, the like of which may never be seen in Melbourn
again.

Royston Crow 14th July 1944

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9

Melbourn Fete
23 June 2018
As I write this in early April most of the preparation work is
done, the bookings confirmed and the plans completed for
this year’s Melbourn Fete starting at midday on Saturday 23th
June. As I have mentioned in previous articles the event will
finish at 5 pm, there will not be Music on the Moor this year.
This year we will be hoping for a magnificent turn out of
vintage, veteran and classic vehicles – if you want to know
what the difference is between those descriptions be sure to
talk to Richard and his team who will be, as ever, running this
side of the event. I spoke recently to Richard and asked him
what he had planned. He said, “There will be several exhibitors
showing their collections of memorabilia from years past plus
the usual range of vehicles – old cars, motorbikes, bicycles
and farm machinery including for the first time a collection of
stationary engines. If anyone reading this has something they
wish to display, then please contact me through the website.
Another attraction making a return by popular request is lawn
mower racing. Two trophies will be competed for, one for overall
winner, which was kindly donated by John Wright of Wrights
Mower Centre, and one for the most innovative entry – some
weird and wonderful creations are expected. More details are
on the website”. That sounds exciting and it is great to see the
lawn mower racing back.
Lawn mower racing from a previous year, do you have a mower and an
inner Lewis Hamilton temperament? If yes visit our website for more
details.

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www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Will you spot this beautiful classic this year?

Next I spoke to Gillian Morland who for many years has
booked our attractions. I asked Gillian about what we can
look forward to this year. She replied, “Well you won’t be
short of something to see or do at the Fete this year. We have
a Champion Mountain Bike Team displaying some amazing
balancing and jumping skills, live animals to handle including
snakes and a gecko; a young magician will do a show for the
children and will also walk around the field to demonstrate
magic right up close. The Royston Town Band will be playing
and a talented local keyboard player will also be performing.
You can have a go at archery, or shoot a ball off the top of
a water jet, ride on the fairground roundabouts, have a go
at crazy golf and bounce on the inflatables and bungee cord
trampolines, and the Zorbs will be there. In the arena, we will
be having a display of Ceroc dancing, tug-o-war contests, the

Melbourn Dynamo football teams will be displaying their skills
and, of course, our ever-popular egg throwing competition.
There will be a separate area for the Dog show with lots of fun
classes for dogs and their owners or handlers to enter. We will
also have an enormous Newfoundland Dog with its own cart
making an appearance. There will be lots of stalls in the field
and in the main marquee a Great Bake Off competition.” So you
see there are lots of new attractions lined up for this year as
well as some of the very popular regulars.
There will be an amazing selection of animals to hold
and see including tarantula spiders, scorpions, corn snakes,
tree frogs, millipedes, Madagascan hissing cockroaches and
geckos.
As always we will have locally produced top quality food
on offer at reasonable prices. In addition to our locally sourced
burgers and hot dogs from Leech’s butchers, Russell’s butchers
will have a hog roast. We will also have a noodle bar. For
those with a sweet tooth doughnuts and candy-floss will be
available. Top quality coffee from our regular barista will be
available and last but certainly not least we will be having an
amazing array of homemade cakes and afternoon tea in the
pavilion.
Refreshingly cool alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks will
be available from the bar including fine ales, beers and wines.
So, we are ready for an amazing day, remember all profits
made go to good causes, charities and activities in our village.
Please visit our website for more details and competition
One of our attractions this year is a Mountain Bike display team

An amazing selection of animals to hold and see

details. Lastly, if you are able to give up a little time to help
us over the weekend we would love to hear from you, we
can only do this whilst we have a band of volunteers to lend
a hand, it’s great fun and very rewarding so please contact us
through the website.
www.melbournfete.co.uk
A great deal of concentration is required for the egg throwing competition

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The Hall For All and
Melbourn Cinema Event
When you read this, we shall be three weeks away from our
Tenth Anniversary weekend! Where has, the time gone?
We shall be showing The Greatest Showman on Friday
evening 22nd June at the usual price of £5 but we have
a licensed bar for the whole weekend so you will be
able to have a glass of prosecco with your popcorn! On
Saturday evening, we have live entertainment in The Prosecco
Monologues which promises to be an amusing evening, a
light supper will be served and tickets cost £10. Finally, on
Sunday afternoon 24th June at 3.30 there will be afternoon
tea and Roy Crosby’s Great Little Jazz Band. Tickets for that will
be £15 per person and, as I have said, we do have an alcohol
licence for all three events.
Our monthly cinema evenings continue to be very well
supported and on 20th July we are showing The Darkest
Hour (note change of date from 27th to 20th) and on 24th
August Finding Your Feet.
By the time you read this, the Royal Wedding between
Harry and Megan will have taken place and hopefully those
who watched it with us at Coffee Stop on the big screen will
have enjoyed the event. We thought it would be something
a little different. The eleventh Melbourn Safari Supper takes
place on 2nd June, but again too late for this edition.
Maintenance is ongoing – we have updated the CCTV,
the broadband is installed and bookings are steady.
If you are thinking of hiring the Hall, Saturday morning
Coffee Stop is a good time to come and explore the facilities
and get a good cup of coffee.
All tickets from Brenda 261154, Cyndy 264189 or Mavis
260686

Relate Cambridge
The wedding season is upon us… .
With the Royal wedding, very much on everyone’s minds,
Elaine Taylor, relationship expert at Relate Cambridge has
some guidance for anyone contemplating getting married or
making a long term commitment in their relationship.
Commitment: Making a commitment to another person
or a relationship is a big change, and so it is always good for
a couple to talk through what commitment means to them,
well ahead of the big day. Any fears or concerns are best
ironed out together rather than brushed under the carpet.
Expectations: At Kate and William’s wedding, the Bishop
of London said ‘expectations that personal relations alone
will supply meaning and happiness in life … is to load our
partner with too great a burden’. We can expect too much of
ourselves and our partners in relationships – we need to have
realistic expectations in order to have healthy relationships.
Communication: Good communication skills are vital in all
our relationships but especially between couples. It is very
easy to fall into bad habits, especially when communication
skills are rarely taught. Brushing up on communication skills

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– sooner rather than later – is a really good investment to
prevent difficulties later on.
Intimacy: This is often an area that couples find difficult to talk
about. Physical closeness and little gestures – such as touching
and body contact – are as important as sex. It is a great help
to have awareness of our own feelings about our bodies, as
well as our partners, and the ability to understand both our
own and our partner’s needs. Finally, a shared sense of humour
and going the extra mile will keep any relationship on the right
track.
When things go wrong: Relate Cambridge provides support
for people of all ages living in Melbourn, and at all stages of
their relationships. This includes support for couples who are
coping with the stress associated with planning a wedding or
being in a new relationship.
To find out more about our services or make a booking please
ring 01302 347866
Relate Cambridge offers information, advice and counselling
for all stages of your relationships at our outpost in Melbourn.
The sessions are held in the small meeting room at Melbourn
Hub on Wednesday each week.
Appointment times are: 10:30; 11:45; 13:00
For more information or to book an appointment, contact
Relate Cambridge on 01302 347866 Mon-Thur 8am–10pm,
Fri 8 am–6pm, Sat 9am–5pm (confidential answerphone at all
other times) or visit www.relatecambridge.org.uk
Relate Cambridge – supporting relationships at every stage of
your life

From the Parish Clerk
The Parish Council has welcomed me, Simon Crocker as its
new Parish Clerk and Proper Officer. I joined at the beginning
of April, and come to the Parish Council us as an experienced
Council Officer. I was Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial
Officer to Caldecote Parish Council for the last five years.
Additionally, I have also served as Chairman of Cambourne
Parish Council, and District Councillor for the Ward of Bourn.
By the time you read this the results of the Local elections
in May will have been announced. We already know that
the Parish Council election is uncontested, there being fewer
candidates than there are seats. Melbourn Parish Council has
room for 15 Councillors, this means there are 6 vacancies.
If no by-election is called to fill the vacancies, then the Parish
Council will be obliged to co-opt. Co-option is the process of
existing Councillors choosing new Councillors to fill vacancies.
Assuming no election has been called to fill the vacancies, it is
likely the Parish Council will co-opt at its meeting in July.
If you are the type of person who is passionate about the
community you live in, wants to see tax-payers money spent
responsibly, cares about future development and facilities,
and wants to try and make a real difference, then you
should consider applying. A brief FAQ is below. If you want
more information on what it means to be a Parish
Councillor, please feel free to contact the Parish Clerk on
parishclerk@melbournpc.co.uk or phone 01763 263303.

FAQ
Q: How do I apply for co-option?
A: Contact the Parish Clerk and ask for an application form.
Q: Are there any qualifications I must meet if I want to be a
Parish Cllr?
A: Yes. You must be over 18, a citizen of the EU, Commonwealth
or R.O.I, and be on the register of electors for Melbourn or
have lived, or worked in the Parish for 12 months preceding
your nomination. There are other criteria and the application
form takes you through them.
Q: How much time will I have to spend attending to duties if
I am elected?
A: As much as you want, but around 10 hours per month is
normal.
Q: Will I have to attend Parish Council meetings?
A: Yes. You will be an elected member of a local authority not a
volunteer, and as such you are summoned to meetings, not
invited to them. There are 10 meetings of the Full Council per
year
Q: Do Parish Councillors get paid?
A: No.
Q: How will being a Parish Councillor fit around my work?
A: Meetings are in the evenings. Additionally your employer is
obliged by law to give you time off to attend them.

Simon Crocker, Parish Clerk to Melbourn Parish Council

County Councillor
Susan van de Ven
9000 Pot holes in three months
What’s happening to our roads and pavements? I’ve been
overwhelmed with reports of pot holes: tyre blow-outs, falling
off bikes, near-misses by swerving drivers, and so on. Last year,
Cambridgeshire Highways received 7,500 pot hole reports.
In the first three months of 2018, 9,000 reports were made.
Shoddy repair work shouldn’t count but does.
What can you do? As annoying and frustrating as it is,
please go on-line and report every pot hole in your street.
Please Google ‘Cambridgeshire Report a Fault’ and follow the
links – this is the best way of reporting and it is the tool I use.
This will create an accurate public record – and you can see
straight away where you have contributed to the public map.
Have you blown a tyre or wrecked your bike? Then please
lodge a request for reimbursement for damages. The PDF
form is at the bottom of the fault reporting page.
And if you want to moan at someone or want help
reporting, please drop in at one of my advice surgeries or
contact me anytime. Thanks for your help in setting the
record straight.
Completely new train service starts 20th May
The new timetable coming into force on 20 May is described
as the biggest change in rail services for decades: we are part
of ‘Thameslink’ territory and will be connected up to a far
greater network throughout the Southeast than ever before.
Locally we will have twice hourly trains all day, Monday-

New Royal
Papworth Hospital
The new Royal Papworth Hospital is due to open at
the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Addenbrooke’s
in September this year.
The hospital is looking for additional volunteers to
help in a number of areas, including;

and a number of other areas
If you would like to get involved and commit to a
few hours or a day a week, in the first instance you
may like to come along to shadow one of our current
volunteers to see if you would enjoy joining our group
of dedicated volunteers, please contact in confidence.
Email: papworth.pals@nhs.net
Tel: 01480 364896
Or write to PALS Supervisor
Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust
Papworth Everard, Cambridgeshire. CB3 8PE

Saturday (except 11am-noon due to the Cemex goods train!),
and an hourly service Sunday. All trains will be eight carriages,
Tube style, with much more vestibule room. Trains will depart
on a completely new schedule on a massively complex grid
– details on the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton website:
meldrethsheprethfoxtonrail.org.uk.
As part of the phased roll-out of the new service, from
May 20th until December 2019 our trains will continue to
terminate at King’s Cross, but thereafter will run via St Pancras,
providing onward service to Blackfriars, London Bridge, or
Gatwick from Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton.

New platform shelter: so far so good
While the wheels move slowly, it looks like the promised new
shelter for Meldreth’s Cambridge-bound platform is going
ahead. There’s a months-long lead time but the starting gun
has been fired. This has come about via lobbying from the
Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group.
Flood avoidance tours
Highways came out to Melbourn in April to keep a
preventive eye on avoidable problems that result from
blockages in the drainage network.
Continuing action is needed at Back Lane/London Way,
Orchard Way near Maple Way, and possibly new work along
Trigg Way. It is usually very localized reporting that provides
the clue to a network problem, so please always get in touch
with any concerns.
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

13

FOREVER

Affordable exercise classes and sport sessions for the over 50s
and those returning to a more active lifestyle in Melbourn

My name is Steph and have lived in Melbourn for
15 years. I have recently started to deliver a Strength and
Balance Exercise class on behalf of Forever Active at
All Saints Community Hall in Vicarage Close.
Forever Active are a charity that specialises in exercise
for the older adult and work closely with the CPFT
(NHS) Falls Prevention Service. The weekly class is a
mixture of seated and standing exercises to help improve
mobility and independence by strengthening bones,
increasing suppleness and stamina.
The class runs weekly on a Tuesday 12.00–1.00pm and
your first class is a FREE taster so you have nothing to
lose by coming a long and giving it a go.
If you would like more information
or to let me know that you are going to attend,
please contact me tel: 07751280464
For more information about Forever Active
please visit www.forever-active.org.uk
or contact enquiries@forever-active.org.uk

www.forever-active.org.uk

07432 480105

WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
A Van Dweller’s Cooking
Late one evening at the feast, one of the van dwellers was
seen to be preparing some apparently old and useless
lettuce leaves and broad bean pods for cooking in readiness
for supper after the Feast closing down, an event which
aroused the curiosity of some Melbourn housewives who
got into conversation with the van woman. They were told
and shown how the large and usually discarded leaves of
lettuce could be cooked and used for a vegetable in precisely
the same way as spinach. Broad bean pods can be used in
the same way. Local housewives may ‘like to have a go.’
Herts Cambs Reporter and Royston Crow July 11th 1947

14

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Little Hands is a Private Nursery School specialising
in quality education for the under fives and offers
Flexible hourly booking - open 08.30 to 16.30
Term time bookings with optional holiday club
Bumble Bee room for children 12 – 24 months
Ladybird room for 2 year olds
Butterfly room for children 3-5 years
With optional “ready for school sessions”
Holiday club for children aged 12 months to 8 years
All sessions have a high staff to child ratio and are
available for funded 2 year olds and funded
3/4 year olds with no extra charges
Categorised as “Outstanding” by Ofsted
For further information please contact
Anne McCrossen - Nursery Manager : 01763 260964
e-mail lh-melbourn@btconnect.com
Little Hands is also at Bourn, Linton and Newton
visit the website at www.littlehands.co.uk

Melbourn Back Lane trees
Recently, six trees were taken down by County Highways
in Back Lane Melbourn – this was due to disease. We are
offered six replacement trees, to be planted where the parish
would like. I’ll be asking Melbourn Parish Council for their
view.
Help keep Royston & District Community
Transport’s minibuses!
Royston & District Community Transport is a charity
providing lifeline transport for people who’d otherwise be
isolated. RDCT has a small fleet of minibuses, including a
lovely 16-seat low-floor model, provided by the Department
for Transport – and has raised funds for running costs and
maintenance. Now the Department for Transport is looking
to radically change licensing arrangements for community
transport providers running minibuses, meaning they would
need a commercial operator’s license, and their volunteer
drivers would need professional qualifications, costing
thousands. This means that a whole range of activities using
RDCT’s minibuses is under threat.
The DfT is currently in consultation on community
transport operations and it would be very helpful to RDCT
if local residents could write to them saying that they value
RDCT minibus services. Please email david@roystrans.co.uk
saying just that – by May 1st. Many thanks.
In the meantime, RDCT is critically short of minibus
drivers right now – if you or anyone you know would be
interested in being a minibus driver, please contact them.
Bus ticket for the Mayor
The Mayor and Combined Authority are the new county
Transport Authority. The Mayor’s Bus Review, announced in
November, should finally be starting soon. Meanwhile, the
County Council has firmly stated that its current round of
bus subsidies, with another stay of execution running until
April 2019, marks the end of its financial contribution to
supporting bus services. The Cam Vale Bus User Group will
continue to be a local voice for bus users.
New 128 bus timetable – and now it’s the ‘127’
The Cam Vale Bus Users Group has been working with the
bus operator and the County Council on timetable revisions
for the combined 127/128 bus service. Special attention has
been given to ensuring linking up with the 26 bus and the
new Great Northern timetables. The aim is to distribute the
new timetable, and bring it into force, as close as possible to
the introduction of the new train timetable on May 20, so
by the time you read this article. Please get in touch if you’d
like to receive Bus User Group news.
Selling off county estates, confidentially
As I’ve been reporting, the County Council is running out
of money and can no longer take proper care of people or
infrastructure. The council is rich in land – it has one of the
most extensive land holdings of any council in the country.
So, to make new money it has created its own commercial
development company, with which to commercially develop

some of its land holdings. This new company is currently
known as ‘This Land.’ Sales of county-owned land to This
Land take place through the Commercial and Investment
Committee, comprised of democratically elected councillors
but whose papers are largely confidential. With the County’s
Chief Finance Officer and Chief Legal Officer also serving as
Board Members on This Land, there are obvious questions
of conflict of interest.
Be aware – many County Council land holdings are in
sensitive places in our villages: including part of Melbourn
Recreation Ground. You can see County land holdings on
the County website here (click on the word ‘Maps’ in the
top right-hand corner): www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Duke of Edinburgh volunteers helping out
Through Melbourn Village College, the Meldreth, Shepreth
and Foxton Community Rail Partnership and A10 Corridor
Cycling Campaign are now enjoying support from five Duke
of Edinburgh Volunteers – litter picking and watering the
flower tubs at the stations and helping to bring younger
people who would like to be cycling safely to college into
the Cycle Campaign’s work on the Melbourn-Royston
pedestrian cycle link.
Drop-in advice surgery
Any questions or concerns? I’m at the Melbourn Hub every
first Monday of the month, 3–4 (except August). Or please
feel free to contact me any time.
Susan van de Ven, County Councillor
Telephone 07905325574 | Susanvandeven5@gmail.com

WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
The Spring Offensive
A few days ago the annual event known to the male
population of the village as the spring offensive, and
to housewives as spring cleaning, commenced in
most homes in the village. Long suffering husbands
had fondly hoped that little or nothing in the way of
spring cleaning would take place this year owing to
the rationing of soap and other necessities, the
scarcity and expense of wallpapers, curtains etc, but
these inconveniences seemed not to deter the
housewife, who started the annual upheaval with grim
determination. Many a husband who in the morning
left his house as he thought spick and span and clean
enough for anybody, returned at night to find his
home in a highly chaotic state, his pipe and tobacco
hidden, the wireless dismantled, his football pool
forms missing and everything in a topsy-turvy
condition, a state of unhappy affairs which may
continue for two or three weeks. When peace and
happiness do eventually return to the home this happy
state of the home will not last very long as it will
soon be time to clean up again for the village feast.
Herts and Cambs Reporter and Royston Crow April 18 1947

melbournmagazine@gmail.com

15

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16

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Memory Lane
Voyage to Ceylon

In 1937, Isabella Hagger of
Melbourn embarked on a sea
voyage to Ceylon (now Sri
Lanka) to visit her husband
Cyril who was working for
the Admiralty, constructing
oil storage tanks. Isa (as she
preferred to be called) kept
a detailed journal of her outgoing journey and of the
seven months she spent in
Ceylon. This journey was at a time when few ventured
out of the country to see the world.
On her return Isa was asked to give a talk about
her experiences to the Congregational Church Women’s
Group. Below is an abridged version of this interesting
story which she wrote 80 years ago.
My friends were all very kind and gave me a wonderful send
off from Melbourn on Oct. 8th when I left about 8 a.m.
to start on my journey to join my ship the Rajputana at
George V docks London.
I will never forget the moment when the Rajputana slid out
of the docks at 1 p.m. and I had started on my long journey.
The lump in my throat seemed too big for me to control,
but on looking around I found many people who had quite
lost control and were making very distressing scenes and this
helped me to compose myself, and give a watery smile and
a wave as the car containing my girls drove away. Lunch was
served as soon as the ship sailed and on my brother’s good
advice I had some soup “because it slips over the lumps so
easily”.
Lunch was served as soon as the ship sailed. I spent the
afternoon unpacking and walking around the decks all alone,
and I must admit feeling rather miserable. We had tea at
4.30, and as soon as that was over the bell rang for boat drill.
I had imagined that would be a fearful ordeal and pictured
myself scrambling into a given place in one of the small boats,
but I was quite wrong and the drill was over in a very few
The SS Rajputana was a P&O steam passenger ship. It was used by a
number of famous passengers including Mohandas Gandhi who travelled
to England on the Rajputana to attend the talks on the independence of
India and T E Lawence (Lawrence of Arabia).

minutes. We merely put on our life belts and listened to a few
instructions.
At dinner, we were put at our allotted places in the dining
saloon and were able to exchange remarks with our table
companions, and as soon as dinner was over a red headed
scotch lady from Glasgow came up and spoke to me in the
lounge, and made plans to meet me on deck next morning
and she proved to be a very good friend to me and remained
so throughout the voyage.
We arrived at Southampton the next and day and I went
ashore for two hours. We sailed from Southampton at 2 p.m.,
and the voyage started in earnest. Very soon the wind started
to blow and the sea became very rough and I felt very, very
sick. I had heard that the state of feeling seasick is purely
mental, and that if one fights against it, one is alright. Believe
me, I fought as hard as I could and tried every suggested cure
from Glucose D to green apples, but I had to retire to my little
bunk in my cabin.
I felt somewhat better by the time we arrived at Gibraltar
and was so thrilled at the sight of the Rock that I quite forgot
I had been ill. I did not go ashore, but I shall always be glad
to think that I have been privileged to see this ‘Guardian of
the Mediterranean’. We sailed again at about 5 p.m. and as
we sailed along we could hear the Spanish guns and see the
flashes. As night fell a huge ensign was flood lit on the ship’s
stern to proclaim to all the world that we were British.
Some nervous souls on board circulated most alarming
rumours about mines, and Spanish airplanes etc., but we
never were in any danger and we were well protected by
British war ships all through the Mediterranean.
At the time of Isa’s voyage, there had been a military uprising
in Spain which became known as The Spanish Civil War.
Our next port was Marseilles. A party of five of us went
ashore as safety in numbers seems to be the rule. Even
with this party we had the unpleasant experience of being
followed for 2 hours by an objectionable looking man. So
persistent was he that we had to ask a Gendarme to speak to
him, while we got a taxi to get away from him.
We did not do any sightseeing as we were all bent on
shopping, but we were long enough ashore to realise the truth
of the saying that every nationality can be found in Marseilles.
We had some distinguished passengers on board for Malta,
among them Lady Georgiana Kidston (The Earl of Howe’s
daughter) with her baby. Naturally the women passengers
were interested in the arrival of her husband and although
we were told that society people make no fuss on these
occasions, he arrived in an Admiralty launch with a huge
bouquet of red roses and tore up the gangway to meet Lady
Georgiana. She is very lovely and was dressed in a navy-blue
coat and skirt with beautiful red fox furs, hat shoes and gloves
in the same lovely shade.
I went down for dinner and my sympathetic table steward
advised me to eat while the boat was still as it was going to
be very rough again. That meal on the 17th had to last me a
…continued on page 18
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

17

very long time, as it was at Port Said on the 20th before I could
take the next one. One of the joys of real seasickness is that one
feels so ill, that night and day are all the same and friends and
relations do not matter. I must just add too that it was so rough
that I was all covered with black and blue bruises as the lurching
ship knocked its poor passengers into any post or pillar or chair
in the cabins or lounges.
I enjoyed my visit to Port Said and that walk on terra firma
seemed to put me right for the rest of the voyage. There is
nothing of any special interest to see at Port Said, but it is the
first taste of The East and a traveller going East for the first
time is almost bewildered by the scene. The natives are so
brightly dressed and the dwellings so different from any of the
western ports.
It was very warm and we only stayed ashore about 2 hours.
I was interested in all the strange sights, but it is so difficult to
get along the streets as the beggars and street vendors worry the
people from the ship all the time. The beggars perform all sorts
of tricks too. The most popular is called the ‘gilly gilly’ trick. He
shows a small egg to the interested spectator, and in a very few
minutes 5 or 6 real live chickens appear apparently from space.
We sailed from Port Said and by this time everyone on board
was happy and friendly and I wondered how I ever could have
felt lonely. We each knew our friends complete life story and I
found that instead of being the only woman on board who had
to pluck up courage to leave their homes and children, that I
was one of many, and one of the very lucky ones, as my visit
was really a holiday.
We did not land at Suez, but we were fortunate to go
through the Suez Canal by daylight. It is such a narrow canal that
it seemed as if our ship would get stuck.
I wish I could describe the wonder of it all. The huge desert
stretching on either side, and the camels going quietly along
with their burdens, often silhouetted against the sky line, made
unforgettable and lovely pictures. Along the canal at intervals
were little settlements, where an engineer has his home and at
each someone came out to wave to our big ship, as it passed
on its way.
A tragedy befell me in the Red Sea. One morning I looked in
my denture dish and thinking the water in it was not very fresh
I emptied it out of the port-hole and with it my lower teeth.
I felt terrible about it, I thought it would spoil my trip but apart
from the fact that I could not eat very well I managed to live it
down although at the time I was very sorry for myself and very
annoyed at my own stupidity.
I had many things told me for my consolation, the most
comforting was a friend who wrote to tell me this story. A lady
who shared a cabin with another travelling East, felt rather
thirsty one night in her bunk. Without switching on the light,
she reached out for a tumbler of water and finding it a little
warm, she threw it out of the port-hole and took some fresh
water and went to sleep. Can you imagine her feelings in the
morning to find she had thrown away her cabin companion’s
top and bottom teeth and do you wonder that they both had
a most unhappy trip?
Our next port of call was Aden and the temperature was
over 100 degrees. As the ship sails in one had the impression of
huge cardboard mountains cut out and stuck around the little
town, enclosing it so gray are they and no sign of vegetation
at all.

18

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

I had a new and thrilling experience at Aden. A friend,
who had been an engineer for 7 years on a cable ship found
that his boat was in the bay and he took me aboard. There
are 17 officers and a Captain all European and a native crew.
The officers gave us a wonderful welcome. They had not had
a female on board for months and months and out came
all the snaps of their wives, sweethearts and babies. After
breakfast which was jolly and lengthy and most unusual
they sent my friend and me back to the Rajputana in their
lovely motor launch. The men on these ships have a lonely
life, often not calling at a port for months on end. Their job
is to mend the broken cables radiating to many parts of the
world, which means that they are frequently weeks at sea,
out of sight of land.
On Oct 26th the whole day was given up to the children
of whom there were about 25 on board. In the morning they
had sports watched with great interest by all the passengers.
Tiny tots of 2 and 3 years caused great amusement, by
entering into the various events with jest and vigour.
At 4 p.m. the children had their party. No effort had been
spared to make the tables attractive, and once again all the
grownups trooped down to see the children have a lovely
tea. At 5 p.m. prizes were given away and in addition each
child was given a present. Then after Nuts-in-May and a
few more jolly games the wee ones went off to bed with a
memory, I am sure, which will last a very long time.
I had a chat with the head steward, who told me some very
interesting food facts, one which made a great impression on
me. Everything is done to ensure fresh supplies of fruit and
vegetables are from P&O’s own extensive farms in Australia
to which they send out seeds from home, and so the ships
can pick up a good supply of home produce for the return
journey. All the bread and cakes are made on board, and as
there were over 2,000 tomato sandwiches alone cut every
afternoon, you can imagine the bakers were kept busy. We
picked up fruit at each port, and so we were privileged to
enjoy most delicious fruits as we got further east. It was a
marvel to me to be able to get crisp lettuce in the middle of
the Red Sea. The head steward, too, compiles the menus and
I think he must have been a man of great imagination as at
each port we had a suitable dish, for example at Marseilles
the fish was Marseilles slips (small Dover sole) while at Malta
the trifle was a Maltese one.
Another source of great interest on big ships are the ladies
fashions. The weather conditions are so hot that that alone
is a good excuse for the girls to make frequent changes. For
sport, which is indulged in nearly all mornings, the pretty
cotton dresses and shorts are most suitable. Some of the
girls wear slacks all the time but they cannot be cool and
are not very becoming. Lots of people retire for a siesta after
lunch and appear for tea in a little more frilly frock than the
morning one. It is at dinner that one really sees the fashion
parade. Girls who have been in shorts all day emerge in
beautiful evening gowns of every colour and description
making a really charming scene. You must remember it is so
warm that evening dress is the coolest one can wear and it is
easy to look ones best under these conditions.
On the 28th about 3 p.m. we arrived at Bombay. The first
thing one sees on entering the harbour is a huge memorial
of the great war, called The Gateway of India.

Cyril, Sheina, Morag and Isa Hagger in their garden in Orchard Road,
Melbourn in the late 1920s

We hired a car and paid a brief visit to the wonderful
hanging gardens. Having seen all this beauty we decided to
go to the Crawford Market. This is a huge covered-in market
place, for fruit, vegetables, brass ware, carpets, curios and
almost everything else one can think of. The beggars in this
quarter are so persistent and the cripples all along the street
in dozens, make one feel so unhappy we did not spend very
long in that quarter, but during my brief visit I full realised the
awful conditions under which these people must exist, to
render them into this filthy and crippled state.
After a visit to the Taj Mahal Hotel to which everyone who
goes to Bombay seems to pay a visit, we were quite glad to
get back to the ship.
We were due in Colombo harbour on Oct 31st about
6.30 a.m. but long before my stewardess came to call me
at 5.30 a.m., I was up and dressed, and as we sailed into
Colombo harbour I could hardly realise that I had actually
come to the end of my sea voyage, and that I would so soon
meet my husband.
As promised he was the first man on the ship and
although I had looked forward so much to seeing him walk
up the gangway, I was so thrilled that at the very critical
moment I had to turn away to compose myself, and so I did
not see him until he stepped onto the ship. We stayed about
half an hour on the ship saying good-byes and then I landed
in lovely Ceylon.
An unabridged version of Isa’s ‘Voyage to Ceylon’ can be found
at the end of this magazine.
In the next edition of the magazine, ‘Days in Ceylon’.
Isa spends seven months getting to know the country
and the people.
Cyril Hagger is part of a long established Melbourn Hagger
family. James Hagger a saddler came to Melbourn around 1790.
His son Joseph Ellis Hagger inherited the family business from his
grandfather in 1824. J. E. Hagger and Son – described as Collar &
Harness Maker, Dealer in Oil, Cutlery, Ironmongery, Rope, Hemp
– continued trading until 1930. The shop was situated at what is
now the Post Office in the High Street.
Isa was born in Scotland and met Cyril when he was there on
a business trip to Scotland. They married in 1919 and had two
daughters, Morag and Sheina. In 1924 the family moved to The
Maples, in Orchard Road in Melbourn.
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

WHAT THE
PAPERS SAID
Old Village surnames
The question of old village surnames
was recently questioned by some
interested villagers. The name of
Rumbold appears to be one of the
oldest as there was a worker of that
name on the Bury payroll about a
thousand years ago, and there are
now several of this name in Melbourn.
There is in existence a complete
list of the families living in the
village 286 years ago (in 1600) and
in this old list are names of families
living in Melbourn today. They are
French, Ellis, Harper, Stockbridge,
Cooper, Willmott, Frost, Huggins,
Day, Oliver, Taylor, Muncey, Wedd,
Chapman, Ward and Woods
Reporter and Royston Crow Friday January 18th 1946

We have a wonderful time at Melbourn Playgroup, Out of School Club and the
Holiday Club.

Melbourn Playgroup

The Playgroup have been doing what they do best this term and learning through
play!
We have been in the forest hunting for the Gruffalo. We have been collecting
sticks, counting them and then working out which one is the biggest and smallest.
We have had stories in the yurt and had lots of fun with messy play both inside
and out. We have had a visit from Wiggles the dog and taken the children to visit
the library in the Hub. Thank you to all those who made these experiences for
the children possible. We continue to try and offer all our children rich and varied
experiences.
As we move towards the end of the school year we are transitioning our
pre‑school children to reception. They have had some wonderful visits into the
school for stories and play. Thank you to Melbourn Primary School. I am sure it will
lead to another year of children seamlessly starting the primary school in September.

Out of School Club (MOOS) and Holiday Club

MOOS have also had a great term. We have continued to enjoy lots of freely
chosen, self-directed play along with lots of craft and creative work. Despite the
ever-changing weather, we have also enjoyed lots of team games outside as well as
dance routines and imaginative play. It is always a lovely experience to see children
socialising, playing and growing during their time with us at MOOS. The year 6
children will be off to a new school career soon and we would like to wish them the
very best of luck for September. We also look forward to welcoming a new intake
of reception children in September.
The Melbourn Holiday Club will be open during the summer holidays for
3–11 year-olds from 8am to 6pm, starting on 25th July until 10th August 2018.
The holiday club is open to children at Melbourn Primary School and
Playgroup and also for children outside of Melbourn. If you are interested in
booking a place at our holiday clubs or want further info please contact us –
moos@melbournplaygroup.org.uk or telephone us on 01763 223459. There is also
lots of information on our website – melbournplaygroup.org.uk

Plans for the future
We are also very excited to share with you the plans for the new extension to
Melbourn Playgroup and MOOS, which will open in September 2018. The building
work began after the Easter holidays and is well under way. We look forward to
being able to offer more places to our local families, and to welcome new residents
to Melbourn.
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

21

Year 2 Trip to the Zoo

Display / Teaching

Existing Pre School
Retained
Not Enclosed

Toilets
7 m²

Office

Toilet

11 m²

4 m²

Pre School 2
67 m²

Toilets
9 m²

Lobby & Cloaks
9 m²

Melbourn Playgroup and Out of School is an Ofsted
Outstanding provider. To keep up to date with what we do, we
have a Facebook page – www.facebook.com/Melbournplay/.
We are taking bookings now for 2018/2019. If you have
any queries or would like to make a booking, please contact
us at www.melbournplaygroup.org.uk or 01763 223459.

Melbourn Primary School

On Tuesday 20th March, Year 2 visited London Zoo to
explore the rainforest and to see the rainforest animals,
we have been learning about, up close. We had the most
amazing day.
“We saw a yellow spotty giraffe; it was lifting its long neck
upwards slowly.” Ellie
“I liked the jumpy little poisonous dart frog. It was tiny. You
could hardly see it.” Olly
“After that we went to the mini rainforest. Have you been to
London Zoo? I saw a sloth. The sloth was as quiet as a leaf.”
Hector
“Did you enjoy your day at the zoo? I did! I had a lovely day!”
Izzy W

As we venture into spring our school is well and truly
blossoming. Along with the increasing pupil numbers the
school is literally growing before our eyes. Many people have
asked if the new building is on two floors. It isn’t. The high
windows are to let light in. I have had my first tour of the
building wearing a protective hat etc. and very glamorous
boots! With four new classrooms, a hall extension, new
library and new offices; it really is going to be fantastic when
finished.
Despite the complications of living in a building site,
business has continued as normal:

Year 3 & 4 Inspiration Day

We had the most amazing inspiration day to launch our
Greek topic ‘What the Greeks gave us’. The children wore
wonderful costumes and the workshop was very exciting.
The children were able to visit a range of stalls and made
wax tablets, clay lamps, frescos and many other items. In the
afternoon, they enjoyed Greek theatre and a feast of Greek
food.

Year 5/6 Trip to West Stow Anglo
Saxon Village
FS/Year 1 Parent Workshop

On Tuesday 20th March, the Foundation Stage and Year
1 classrooms were awash with excited children and adults
ready to take part in some egg-citing Easter themed activities.
From hunting for Easter eggs to creating Easter crafts, making
repeating and symmetrical patterns to testing parachutes to
keep an egg safe, the children were busily engaged in some
truly wonderful learning.

22

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

On the 22nd of March, year 5/6 arrived at the Anglo-Saxon
Village in West Stow. The journey took around 45 minutes,
so we arrived at about 10:30am. Once we had split into
groups, it was time to explore. We were split into the two
groups and had two main activities, one was a visit to the
museum, and the other was to explore the houses and
village.
Although the museum wasn’t huge, it was full of
interesting information and artefacts. We saw a small child’s

skeleton (which was roughly 40cm long and 15cm wide); a
wild boar’s skin and of course an ancient poo! Ben, the guide,
told us that the poo was approximately 1,500 years old, but
you would never guess what it was it looked just like a pile
of dirt.
After the museum, Ben gave us some time to explore
the village. The houses incorporated different building
techniques. All of the houses had a thatched roof, but the
walls were made of various materials, including wattle and
daub and wood. Most of the houses had raised floors. The
house that stood out the most was the ‘sunken house’. This
house was one of the first designs for Anglo Saxon living that
was found at West Stow. The floor of the house sat below
ground level, making the house cold and at risk of flooding.
Ben later informed us, during a question and answer session,
that actually this probably wasn’t how the houses were built
and that all houses probably had raised floors. He explained
that even though they know a lot about Anglo Saxons and
how they lived, they are still learning. Overall, we found this
trip extremely enjoyable and very interesting.
By Lauren Schofield and Jessica Wainwright.

Mother’s Day

We were delighted to welcome over 160 mothers to our
Mother’s Day activities, despite the lack of tea and cake!
It was incredible to watch the enthusiasm with which the
children and their female relations took part in the fitness
activities and tucked into the delicious fruit kebabs and
loaded rice cakes.

PE news

We have been busy with PE fixtures. We had a successful
second round of the A Team High 5 netball competition,
with this team progressing through to the A team plate
finals after Easter. Our B team also took part in the finals
of their competition at Impington Village College, showing
great determination and perseverance throughout their
matches. We have also played the final match in the South
Cambs Riverside Football League, with the team winning
6–1 against Fowlmere Primary School. The girls’ football
squad also took part in a friendly match against Barrington
Primary School, developing their skills phenomenally during
the match to eventually win 7–4.

Ambulance

The Foundation Stage children were awestruck to go out
into the car park on a cold Wednesday morning to find an
ambulance waiting for them. The children learnt about what
the ambulance and paramedics do and how and when to
call for them. They then got to sit in the driver’s seat and
make the siren work before having a tour in the back of the
ambulance to see what equipment was stored there and
how and when it would be used. Thank you so much to
Steve and Paul for bringing the ambulance in to visit us; it
was truly a memorable occasion.

We are looking forward to all that the summer term
brings, especially seeing more of the school extension take
shape. One of the most exciting aspects for me is that the
extension connects together the various buildings of our
school. No longer will I need an umbrella to get around the
school on those wet days that have seemed all too frequent
lately. Here’s hoping for some sunshine, this term, too!
Mrs Stephanie Wilcox – Headteacher
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

wE Are a RAre brEed
One of only a handful of butchers in Britain to run our own abattoir, we are Master Butchers in the truest sense.
From farming selection through to cutting and hanging, our craftsmen make sure you always know exactly
where your meat is coming from: from pasture to pantry.

Melbourn Village College
Melbourn Village College is a school firmly on the road to
expansion. With the school achieving consistently excellent
results it seems more students and parents are wanting to
be part of the success story with intake numbers continuing
to increase.
The figures released for September’s intake indicate the
new Year 7 cohort will be the largest year in the school,
building on the 100 admitted in 2016 and 110 last autumn.
“This is great recognition of what we are doing at the college,”
said Principal Simon Holmes. “We look forward to welcoming
the new students into our community in September.”
Part of that work is championing the teaching of
Mandarin as part of the curriculum and Melbourn’s work
was recently highlighted nationally as a great example of
how this can work in an in-depth on-line article from the
Institute of Education at University College, London, and
can be read here:
https://ciforschools.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/
melbourn-village-college-report3.pdf
Spanish is the other language now studied by all students
starting Melbourn in Year 7 and the start of this term had a
distinctly Spanish feel.
Not only did Year 9 and 10 students participate in
an Interaction Day with teenagers from partner school
Salesianos in Santander, which included presentations in
Spanish and a trip to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford,
but 31 Year 8 students enjoyed the annual Immersion Trip
to the Cantabria region of northern Spain.
It was an amazing trip, linguistically and culturally.
Students were taught Spanish by Spanish teachers in Spain
– including on Saturday and Sunday morning! – but also
visited a national park, the caves at Altimera and learned to
hunt and make fire at an ancient Cantabrian Village as they
learned how people lived in the Bronze and Iron ages.
They also sampled authentic paella and chocolate con
churros, as well as spending time on the beach, shopping in
Comillas and visiting Capricho de Gaudi – a villa in Comillas
designed by the famous Spanish artist. There was also plenty
of time to sample the local ice cream!

Closer to home students have been hard at work both
in college and outside with three students from Melbourn
Judo Club, winning medals at the British Schools Judo
Championships in Sheffield.
Daisy King took the under-44kg category, winning all her
fights in a pool of 14 players to take gold and earn herself a
place in the Regional England Development Squad.
Rebecca Frisby picked up silver in the over-63kg category,
fighting a girl 14 kg heavier, while her brother Daniel took
bronze in the over-66kg Year 8/9 competition.
In London Ella Carolan performed at ‘Move It’, the UK’s
biggest dance and performing arts event, after successfully
auditioning for a place in Ryan Jenkins ID Company, which
involves travelling to Covent Garden on a weekly basis.
Ewan Walpole, in Year 11, was treated to a special leaving
and good luck party by his friends in the World of Work
group, who organised the send-off.
This was part of Unit 5 (decision making and the process
of making informed judgements) and pupils had to plan a
class activity, which involved setting goals and identifying
steps needed.
Enrichment activities continue to inspire and engage
students with a whole host of different extended learning
opportunities available – and with the promise of more to
come as Year 8 and 9 look forward to Activities Week at the
end of term.

melbournmagazine@gmail.com

25

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connected...

26

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

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British Schools Judo
Championships
Do good, feel good
Volunteering is super flexible and it's rewarding too.
Doing good things makes you feel pretty brilliant.
Plus, you get to control when and where you do it
and how much of your time you can commit.
Volunteering can change your world;
wherever you are, whatever you're into.
vinspired is the UK's leading volunteering charity for 14–25
year olds. vinspired helps young people to make their mark
on causes that they care about, whilst learning new skills and
talents along the way.
Volunteering helps young people thrive, and transforms
the communities they live in. It teaches them vital skills and
prepares them for the future.
Make your good deeds count by totting up your
volunteering hours for the vInspired awards scheme
Get a volunteering CV and impress colleges, universities and
potential employers with your achievements
Volunteering is a fantastic way to make your mark on a cause
that you care about and learn new things along the way.
There really is a volunteering opportunity for everyone;
whether sport or music is your thing, if you want to travel
far and wide or help out closer to home, there will be an
opportunity that's just right for you.
For more information, telephone 02079 607 000
or visit the website https://vinspired.com/volunteer

Hope Gray (14) from Melbourn has recently been awarded her
V100 certificate for over 100 hours of volunteering work, and is
now going onto the next step of arranging a community project.
Hope is very keen on volunteering as she has been able to extend
her naturally humanitarian, inquisitive and helpful manner to
helping others by giving freely of her time.
She says "I really enjoy my stable work on Saturdays which gives
me a chance to learn all about horses and stable management, and
has helped to build my confidence and social skills in making new
friends. I also deliver the Melbourn magazine which helps the village
get their free copy, and I have recently begun assisting with my local
church's arts and craft group, Messy Play.
I really enjoy volunteering as it gives me pleasure to help others,
and I learn a lot from it too. So much so, that it is also now useful
for my Duke of Edinburgh Award. I would recommend volunteering
to everyone – especially my age group – as it really helps build
confidence and see new opportunities as well as helping others. I
am also making plans with the Expedition Society and a church
group which both provide opportunities to travel and volunteer at
the same time! It is a win-win! and, it looks good on a CV especially
when so many people are also getting excellent grades!"

Melbourn Village College finish 4th overall
The British Schools Judo Championships took place on
17th/18th March at the English Institute of Sport in
Sheffield. A record number of 6 players were selected and
entered from Melbourn Judo Club, but competed for their
Schools. This is an extremely popular event, with top players
from across the UK.
Daniel Frisby (Melbourn Village College) and Kelli-Jay
Cooper (Greneway) competed on Saturday in the year 8/9
event. Kelli was up against the eventual gold and bronze
medallists but fought well in the U52 kg category. In the
O66 kg category, Daniel took on some extremely big lads
and came away with a bronze medal.
On Sunday, it was the year 6/7 players in action.
Josca Brown (Thriplow) was our youngest and least
experienced competitor. He had a couple of tough fights,
but did well, gained good experience and still has another
year in this age band. Louis Clais-Burns (Knights Templar)
was also in the U38 kg category and finished 7th out of 24
competitors, with 2 excellent wins.
Rebecca Frisby (Melbourn Village College) took Silver
in the O63 kg category and had to face a girl 14 kgs bigger!
She fought extremely hard, but the weight difference
was too much in the end. Daisy King (Melbourn Village
College) was the star of the day. She won all her fights in a
pool of 14 in the U44 kg category to win Gold. Daisy richly
deserves her success and is also part of the Regional England
Development Squad.
Lesley
Melbourn VC medalists. Left to right: Rebecca, Daisy and Daniel.
Photographs British Judo.

Summer Solstice
‘If we shadows have offended
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.’
William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

southcambsmotors@btconnect.com

The summer sun of solstice
Rises over mystic Glastonbury’s Tor,
Peaks through Stonehenge, glows at Chichen Itza,
Celebrations sing of rites and lore.
A midsummer night’s dream
Quivers over an enchanted eventide.
Shakespeare captures this annual moment
With words where myth and legends ride.
The bard well knew that on this night
Boundaries between the worlds are thin and porous,
Evil spirits, with witches being active,
Faery tricks and queer fancies make a magic chorus.
When the sun is waxing the Oak King rules,
But the Holly King now begins his reign.
The Oak King withdraws to the circumpolar stars
That never drop too low to fade and wane.
This spirit night of the year,
Midsummer’s Eve, now gives way
At solstice, to a sun at greatest height,
Lighting up a new Midsummer’s Day.
Yvonne Chamberlain

As we write this we are fresh from attending a training
session for volunteers from the River Mel Restoration
Group, led by Rob Mungovan of the Wild Trout Trust,
demonstrating the management of in-channel waterweed.
The improvements to the River Mel over the past few years
have led to a welcome increase in growth and diversity of
the in-stream vegetation associated with chalk streams.
The purpose of the training was to demonstrate ways of
managing the growth of this in-river weed to the benefit of
the river and its wildlife.
Vegetation needs to be cut in a manner that creates
channels through the beds of weed so that the water does
not become impounded upstream, but this has to be
balanced against removing too much weed and so risking
dropping the water levels too far in summer. If left uncut, the
clumps of weed can grow so large that they restrict the flow
and lead to erosion of the bank so causing over widening of
the river. As our work in the river has been to increase flow
rates by selective narrowing of the river this is something we
need to avoid.
Rob provided one-to-one tuition in the river,
demonstrating the use of a scythe to both shave off the
top growth (rather in the manner of spoke shave on
wood) and how to ‘guillotine cut’ the sides and downstream
tails of the clumps of weed. Like a lawn, the weed grows
better if cut ‘little and often’. This type of trimming also
has the advantage of extending the growing season of the
plants, thus providing a longer period of cover for fish and

invertebrates that live in the river. Studies have shown that
managing weed in this way also increases the ability of the
plants to over winter, thus encouraging earlier, beneficial,
growth the following season.
It was clear that this process needs care and patience, as
it would be very easy to damage the delicate ecosystem of
the chalk stream by over-cutting. In addition, the cut weed
needs to be removed to the edge of the banks, so that any
small fish and invertebrates inadvertently caught up in the
trimmings can find their way back to the river. That said, it
was a very pleasant occupation that coincided with the first
really nice evening of the Spring.
The Wild Trout Trust regularly deliver
improvements on some of England’s best
known chalk rivers. It is to their credit that
this care extends to the smaller chalk rivers
such as the Mel and the Shep.
For further details about volunteering or the dates of
future working parties, please contact Maureen Brierley on
01763 262752.

melbournmagazine@gmail.com

31

Profile
Pat Ames

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You might be forgiven for thinking that Pat Ames was a born
Londoner, but in fact she was born and spent the first four
years of her life in Stafford, so that when her parents returned to
London she was mocked for her northern accent. Her parents
were living in RAF quarters when she arrived in 1942, she still has
the bill from the midwife for her delivery – 7/6d. The family was
later completed by the arrival of a brother. Her father worked
on photographic reconnaissance but had been a printer before
going into the services – her mother had a greengrocers in
Walthamstow.
She has always been a bit of a rebel and could not wait to
leave school at 16½, going to work in an insurance company in
the City of London. She and a friend took a course in shorthand
and typing and she was able to progress through the company
to eventually become assistant secretary to the Big White Chief.
In her late teens, she learned to ride a motor bike and it was
in 1965 that she went to buy a new Triumph 21 from a young
motor salesman called Colin Ames. They got married the
following year and found a small flat above a transport cafe in
Tottenham where their first daughter Sandrina (named after an
Italian friend Alessandrina) was born. The flat was opposite a
Jewish Residential Home and Hospital and Pat was working there
as a secretary. She explained to them that she would have to
stop work after the baby was born but the Home simply said you
must bring the baby over with you and so it was that Sandrina
was fussed over by the lovely residents of the Home. Pat has a
great deal of respect for the Jewish Community in the East End.
They saved hard and in 1969 were able to buy a house in
Wood Green where Shelley was born. Colin was eager that his
children should be their priority and so Pat stayed at home for
ten years until she felt able to take on some part time work on
the Electoral Roll in Harringay Civic Centre. By that time, she was
Brown Owl to the 5th Wood Green Brownie Pack, she worked
with the Brownies for 19 years and both her daughters went on
to become Queen Scouts.
Colin not only rode motorbikes (his first love was a Francis
Barnett bike) but was also, and still is, a very keen road racing
cyclist and a keen follower of the Tour de France. He cycles every
weekend and still has a motorbike, although Pat is no longer so
keen to ride with him!
Colin’s brother ran a club ‘Unity Seventy’ for mentally and
physically handicapped children and one day when he was stuck
for a driver he asked Colin to help him out driving an ambulance
to a BBQ, He really enjoyed working with the children and this
led to them both being involved in fundraising. At one event,
they met a charismatic amateur magician who happened to be
the Superintendant Registrar at Harringay. Pat was working in the
Council Planning Department and it was not long before Vic had
persuaded her to begin training to be a Registrar.
Vic Weldon was well known for performing in RAF Gang
Shows (on one occasion working for Princess Diana at a party

for Princes William and Harry). Pat and Colin got involved in
the Gang Shows and she showed me a specially bound book
with names recorded in Pat’s hand (calligraphy is another of
her talents) of the Gang Show performers over the years,
including Tony Hancock, Peter Sellers, Dick Emery and Harry
Worth. The book belongs in the RAF Church St. Clement’s
Dane and Pat has recently had the sad task of adding Vic’s
name to the parchment pages.
Pat started in 1984 to train as a deputy, moving up through
Marriages, Births and Deaths to become Superintendant.
The Registrar is responsible for taking all the details then
the Superintendant performs the marriage and signs the
certificate. Pat has many tales about weddings at which she
has officiated, both funny and sad. The Registrar has to be
certain that both parties consent to the marriage, sometimes
the bride is under duress, sometimes the wedding is taking
place to obtain British citizenship – that in itself is not illegal
unless it can be proved that money has changed hands. It
was not unknown for the bride to be completely ignorant
of her husband’s name!
The Registrar’s job was very stressful and emotionally
demanding and in 2003, after 19 years of hatches, matches
and despatches Pat was conducting a marriage when she
had a stroke, as it happened both the bride and groom were
doctors so the damage was contained, but it was enough
to make Pat and Colin re-evaluate their lives and it was thus
that they moved to Melbourn twelve years ago to be near
their daughter Sandrina.
Colin can turn his hand to anything – although he spent
some time in the motor business he was by trade a sign
writer and is obviously good with his hands as he made his
granddaughter Lara a guitar! Pat then told me that he had
made her a beautiful box for her bow. Her bow? Oh yes,
she is an archer and has a 5’ 7” English ‘takedown’ Longbow
drawing 41 lbs. Takedown means the bow breaks down
Pat in her young days

into three parts and, as I was shown, fits beautifully into the
custom made brass bound box with Pat’s name on it. She
got into archery through the Scout movement, which also
introduced the couple to American Square Dancing in 1991
when they attended classes in Winchmore Hill.
American Square Dancing is a cut above Square Dancing,
which is above Line Dancing and yes, Barn Dancing is at the
bottom of the pile. Pat has been a Caller in her time and still
keeps in touch with all their dancing friends.
You might have noticed Pat about the village –
unmistakable with her pink/mauve/blue hair, depending on
her mood. She started dying her hair when she was 15 – her
hair was originally auburn and very long. Bishop Stephen
certainly noticed it when he came to bless the new bells in
Meldreth, he liked the fact that her nails matched her hair!
Singing in the church choir is another of Pat’s hobbies.
Brought up as Church of England she attended a missionary
school and in her teens sang in a Baptist Church. She was
not confirmed until she was 31, that was partly due to her
involvement with Brownies and Church Parades and the
fact that she was singing in the choir at St Michael’s, Wood
Green. She has very strong views on religion, as on most
things! She loves her grandchildren, holidays in the sun,
gardening, has helped with reading one to one at Melbourn
Village College and likes writing poetry, having had a poem
published in The Athlete. (Why don’t you write a poem
for us, Pat?) Oh, and she just throws in dressmaking and
wedding cake making as well.
Colin has run three London Marathons and goes out
cycling most Sundays and still does marshalling for cycle
time trials. His present bike is an AJS 250 Stormer motorcross
converted to a road bike. He is proud of the fact that
he is a true cockney whereas Pat, although her parents
were Cockneys, was actually born ‘oop’ north. Colin’s
woodworking skills were learned from Pat’s father, not his
own father, I think making a guitar from scratch with no
previous knowledge of making musical instruments is pretty
amazing.
I have been doing village profile for many years and I never fail
to be amazed at the stories people have to tell. Get Pat talking
about some of the spicier weddings at which she officiated!
Mavis Howard
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

33

For the Community
by the Community
Supporting local artists at the Hub
The Hub is proud to provide a variety of services for a diverse
local community.
We installed a gallery during the last year to provide a space
for local artists. Artists have the opportunity to exhibit their
work on the Hub walls which provides a light and bright space
to showcase their wonderful creations, with a steady stream of
people providing an audience whilst enjoying the cafe and library.
Customers can come in for a cuppa, meet the artists and view the
paintings and photos which are also available to purchase.
Please come and support the local artists and maybe even
purchase a painting! For each piece of art that is sold, a percentage
of the sale goes towards the ongoing running costs of the Hub.
Details of upcoming exhibitions and info about the artists
can be found on the online calendar on the Hub website
www.melbournhub.co.uk/events-calendar

Banish niggling
aches and pains!
We keep many local people
supple and mobile with our range of
osteopathy and complementary
treatments including sports massage,
chiropody and acupuncture.
Please call us on 01462 490141 to book.
The Melbourn clinic times have
been extended so more appointments
are now available.

A MBER H EALTH

A big thank you to all the artists that have already exhibited, or
will exhibit in 2018; Sue Cane, Gordon Shaw, Ros Ridley, Phyllis
Dunseth, Christine Pattison, Vivienne Machell, Valerie Pettifer, George
Meliniotis, David Hone, SiĂ˘n Davies, Gina Ferrari and Anna Pye.

Children’s Holiday Club Baptist Church morning
Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am-12
Royal British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage
Close 2pm

Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly
Friday 10

Coffee at URC 10.30am

End of term

Saturday 11

Toddlers Plus 9.30-11.30am Baptist Church

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Women’s Group 7.45pm Meldreth Musical Bingo

Sunday 12

Evening 262575

Sung Eucharist All Saints 9.45am

Wednesday 25

URC Service 11.00am

Baptist Church Craft Club

Light & Deep Summer Service Baptist Church 10.30am

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Tuesday 14

British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 2pm

Mother’s Union contact Diane Blundell 221415

Melbourn WI ASCH 8pm Summer Party

Wednesday 15

Thursday 26

Coffee Break 10.30am

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am

Thursday 16

Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly

Friday 27

Friday 17

Coffee URC 10.30am

Coffee URC 10.30am

Saturday 28

Saturday 18

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 29

Sunday 19

Said Eucharist All Saints 8am

Said Eucharist 8.00am All Saints

Light & Deep Summer Service Baptist Church 10.30am

URC Service 11.00am

URC Service 11am

Light & Deep Summer Service Baptist Church 10.30am

We shall be pleased to receive contributions in any form, articles, poems, drawings, photographs,
letters etc., pertaining to Melbourn. Please send any contributions to the Editor, at 110
High Street, Melbourn, marking them ‘MELBOURN MAGAZINE’ or you can email them to
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

urn Magazine is
delivered free to every
household in the village
by volunteers.

If you would like to help please
contact Ann Dekkers on 261144

Village information
Orchard Surgery & Dispensary Melbourn Health Visiting Team
Monday to Friday 8:30–1pm and 3pm–6pm
Phone 01763 260220
www.orchardsurgerymelbourn.co.uk
Repeat prescriptions can be made either, by post, in
person or by registering to use the online NHS service.
Prescriptions can still be collected from:
Surgery

Co-op

Drop in clinics for parents and babies are held as follows: Melbourn
clinic every Wednesday
between 9.30am and 11.00am at:
35 Orchard Road, Melbourn.
Telephone 01763 262861

Tesco in Royston

Prescription Home Delivery
The surgery offers home delivery service for
prescriptions, on a Tuesday & Thursday.
For more information on any of the above,
please see their website or contact the surgery.

BIN COLLECTION
MELBOURN
Bin collection day – TUESDAY
Bins must be out by 6am at the latest on collection day

30 May

Black

Blue & Green

5 June

12 June

Black

19 June

Blue & Green

26 June

Black

03 July

Blue & Green

10 July

Black

17 July

Blue & Green

24 July

Black

31 July

Blue & Green

7 August

Black

14 August

Blue & Green

21 August

Black

28 August

Blue & Green

4 September

Black

11 September

Blue & Green

18 September

Black

25 September

Blue & Green

WEDNESDAY

For an update on collections visit:
www.scambs.gov.uk/binsearch
For more information and collections of large
household items Telephone 03450 450 063

A drop in advisory session is held at
Vicarage Close Community Room, the
4th Thursday every month from 2pm to 4pm

See the website for more information
www.cambridgeshirehearinghelp.org.uk
Battery exchange and retubing.
We do not do hearing tests

Cam Sight’s Rural Support Group meet
in Melbourn to provide help, friendship
and ongoing support to local people
with sight loss. The group enjoys
speakers, music, information, advice and
a chance to try out low vision equipment.
They meet on the 1st Wednesday of
each month, 2 – 4pm at Vicarage Close.
For further information please call 01223
420033 or info@camsight.org.uk

Nature

Melwood: Your Local Nature
Reserve

Spring cleaning time in Melwood
Despite the piles of twigs and small branches from last
autumn’s coppicing, which are still remaining in some
parts of the wood, most areas have now been prepared for
spring. The last of the long grass has been cut, giving light to
bluebells and providing a green mulch for some bare areas at
the back of the wood. Piles of ivy covered debris have been
cleared and open ground revealed, where 2 new trees will be
planted. A Hornbeam and a crab apple will be in place by
the time this magazine is circulated.
Periodically it is necessary to clean and sometimes repair
the nest boxes. They were not disturbed in 2017, so the
February 2018 check was important. Most boxes showed
evidence of use over the 2 year period and even as early
as mid-February one box had to be left, as it was already
being attended by a pair of Great Tits. Most boxes are of
the traditional structure with a round hole for Blue Tits or
Great Tits, but there are also a few with a more open front
preferred by species such as robins. One of these had been
taken over by a wood mouse, using the previous occupants
nest material to keep warm in winter.
Spring cleaning naturally involves getting rid of rubbish
but the conservation group has a rota for this, so there is
generally little to be picked up by work parties. We have
heard a lot in the media about the problem of litter, and
especially plastic in the environment but very occasionally
an enterprising member of the wild fauna will put a piece of
rubbish to good use. After clearing the debris of previously
fallen trees from an area at the back of the wood, I discovered
an old beer bottle surrounded by a pile of broken snail shells.
Thrush’s Anvil – Photograph Jim Reid

This was a thrush’s anvil,
used to break shells and
get at the meal inside.
The thrush holds the
shell in its beak and
usually bangs it on a rock
to break it but Melwood
has few if any rocks
and wood is too soft
and springy. The beer
bottle was just what
was needed. I hope that
being more exposed will
not deter its user.
The main trees of
Melwood and much
of the other woodland
along the River Mel
are Ash and Sycamore.
Both these species
are notorious for
producing carpets of
seedlings, which need
regular control. The
conservation group’s Ash Die back
policy for the long-term Photograph Imperial college London
regeneration of the wood has therefore been to permit
good quality seedlings to grow on towards maturity.
Alongside these, Ash trees are recovering from previous
coppicing with new growth that has now reached over ten
feet in height. In the margins of the wood, mature Ash will
be seen with 3 or 4 trunks growing from one base. These are
trees that have grown from coppiced trunks many decades
ago, so the group’s policy is nothing new. Recently and
quite suddenly, a major threat to the regenerating Ash has
appeared in the form of Ash die-back disease. This is a fungal
disease caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (previously
known as Chalara fraxinea). It seems to affect young new
growth in the lower levels of the wood much more than
the upper canopy and in Melwood, most new coppice
and growing saplings are affected. The group now faces
a challenge over long term planning. Affected wood and
leaves need to be removed and burned as soon as possible
to limit sources for further spread and that will be a task for
the next work party. As with Dutch Elm disease, the hunt is
now on for resistant strains of Ash and DEFRA are already
announcing some early success. Time will tell if this can be
converted to commercial stocks but the ability to identify
genetic markers for resistance may make success easier
than it was in the early days of Dutch Elm Disease. In the
meantime, the group must consider alternative trees to form
the future standards if mature Ash is lost on a large scale.
Jim Reid: Melwood Conservation Group Work Leader
Anyone interested in helping with our conservation
initiatives should contact Graham Borgonon on 01763 260
358 or Jim Reid on 01763 260 231. Further information is
available on our website: www.melwood.btck.co.uk.
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

39

Travelogue
Travelling the Himalayas
A mystery wrapped in an enigma
I have been lucky enough to have travelled to the Himalayan
regions annually for almost 15 years. This has involved India,
including Sikkim, China including Tibet and Yunnan, Nepal
and Bhutan.
Dr Waddell, the medical officer on the British invasion
of Tibet in 1904 wrote about the Tibetan capital Lhasa:
“Wreathed in the romance of centuries the secret citadel has
stood shrouded in impenetrable mystery on the roof of the
world .... With all the fascination of an unsolved enigma it has
held the imagination captive as one of the last secret places
on earth”. This fascinated me and linked to stories I had read
in the Boys Own Paper of these mysterious countries: lamas
with special powers, yetis, yaks and miraculous deeds in the
snow at sub zero temperatures.
In a series of articles, I want to share with you my
experiences of this fascinating region, its landscape, peoples
and cultures.
To place the range in context; the Himalayas are one
of the youngest mountain ranges on earth, but have the
highest peaks and are still rising at about 1cm per year.
However, the top of the range isn’t getting higher as erosion
reduces it by about the same amount each year. The
Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau formed as a result of the
Shishapangma mountain, Tibet

40

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

collision between the Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate around
50 million years ago (225 million years ago India was a large
island off Australia!)
I initially visited as a tourist, but over the years have
gradually begun to understand more about the people who
live in these harsh environments and count several as friends.
I am not a mountaineer, so have not been further towards
the summit of the magnificent peaks than the base camps
at Everest and Kangchenjunga. However, I have trekked a lot
on the lower slopes and experienced the rarefied air of the
Tibetan passes at above 5,000 metres. Luckily I do not suffer
from altitude sickness, but have experienced the difficulty
of functioning effectively when walking and performing
basic tasks at these altitudes. This includes breathlessness
and mild headaches and feet that at times feel like leaden
weights as one tries to put one foot in front of another.
This unique stress at high altitude is hypobaric hypoxia. It
is caused by the fall in barometric pressure with increasing
altitude and therefore fewer oxygen molecules in a breath of
air so there isn’t as much to drive the muscles.
However, for the occupants of these areas, this is their
normal existence and they go about their daily lives as
we do at our lower altitudes. Their ability to function
normally is largely due to the way in which their bodies have
become adapted, over millennia, to the thin atmosphere.
A study in 2014 found that a gene variant from ancient
ancestors, known as Denisovans, provided this adaptation.
The Denisovians, went extinct about 40,000 years ago
but had already mated with other ancestors of Europeans
and Asians. These genes help the Tibetans use smaller
amounts of oxygen efficiently and transport enough of
it to their limbs to function effectively at high altitude.
Tibetans have adapted by having less haemoglobin in their

blood (the occupants of the high-altitude Andes in South
America have a different physiological adaptation with more
haemoglobin). Scientists think this trait helps them avoid
serious problems, such as clots and strokes, caused when
the blood thickens at high altitude. The adaptation is due
to natural selection as women with these genes (and hence
high oxygen saturation) have more surviving children. This
example of natural selection is possibly the fastest case of
human evolution in the scientific record as it is seems to
have happened in less than 3,000 years.
It is interesting that yaks, the iconic herded animal on the
Tibetan plateau and the higher southern slopes, (roughly
estimated at 14 million animals on the plateau) is also
genetically adapted to high altitude life, as is the Tibetan
mastiff dog. Yaks do not function as effectively below 3,000
metres. Cows do not live easily at these high altitudes,
although there is a cross breed which can operate a higher
altitude: dzo (dzomo – female).
Migration patterns onto the Tibetan plateau and onto
the Southern slopes are disputed and there have probably
been many waves often initiated by strife or famine on the
plateau or in China:
from North East China onto the Tibetan plateau in
prehistoric times (Palaeolithic);
repeated further migrations from Northern China and
Mongolia during later pre historic times (Neolithic) and
early historical times;
migrations from the plateau and southern China to the
southern slopes in the Neolithic and possibly earlier;
migrations documented in the medieval and subsequent
periods;
significant migration from the plateau to the southern
slopes after the Chinese presence in the 1950s.

•
•
•
•
•

Labuk by the Peikutso Tso (or lake) in Gyirong county (from where
you can see Shishapangma) central west Tibet.

Tshechu lake (which translates as life-water). East of mount Everest
and is used for divination

There is a particular tradition of ‘revealed’ scriptures, called
terta, ‘discovered’ by terton (the tradition continues to the
present day) that describe ‘hidden valleys’ (beyul) located
on the southern slopes. The scriptures describe how these
can be opened with appropriate ritual ‘keys’. Some scholars
interpret these documents as a licence for the Tibetans to
populate the southern slopes when times were hard on the
plateau. These southern slope areas are certainly more bio
diverse with significant amounts of medicinal and paper
making plants.
The initial inhabitants, possibly about 40,000 years ago,
were hunter gatherers. The traditional lifestyle on the
Tibetan plateau was nomadic herding of yaks, sheep and
goats, moving between summer and winter pastures and
living in yak skin tents (although during the winter people
now more often live in houses), and this still continues.
There were elaborate rituals for determining the times
for moving from winter to summer pastures: ‘the opening
of the gates’. However, there is also agriculture and this is
the predominant lifestyle on the lower southern slopes
and expanding with the introduction of greenhouses and
irrigation. There are also those which practice both. Traders
were also a significant group in Tibetan society. Some of
you may have seen the movie: ‘Himalaya’ which documents
the trial and tribulations of transporting salt on Yaks
across the Himalayas. The location of the passes through
the mountains was key for the trading routes, which also
facilitated cultural exchange.
Religion, particularly the Tibetan variant of Buddhism, is
an important element in the life of these societies and I will
deal with this in more detail in a later article.
Like all regions around the world it is experiencing
profound change with a move from rural to urban life,
increasing industrialisation and mining, the development of
tourism and the impact of climate change on the Himalayan
glaciers and the grasslands of the plateau. However, I hope
you will agree with me by the end of the series that it still
has its enigmas and mysteries.
Bruce Huett and Hildegard Diemberger
Photographs by Bruce and Hildegard
…continued on page 43
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

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Registered osteopath
Using gentle osteopathic
techniques which are suitable for
people of all ages
For appointments and further
information phone 01763 261716

www.kmharry.co.uk

Clinic in Melbourn
42

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

About the authors

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Bruce Huett is a retired accountant with a wide range of interests
who has lived in Melbourn since 2007. He travelled to Tibet and
Nepal as a tourist with a Cambridge University alumnus group in
2004 and where he met Hildegard who was the guide providing
expert information on the culture and the sites visited.
He was then invited to join a research trip the following
year and then began to visit the region on a regular basis.
Bruce now also attends conferences and workshops about the
area, even being invited to present papers at events at Chinese
universities, including in Sichuan and Yunnan, which have
Tibetan populations.
The research interests have also enabled trips to Nepal, Sikkim
and, other parts of northern India and Bhutan. The Nepal link
involved establishing a verbal and postal communication link
between a primary school in Steeple Morden and one in Dhikure
village in Nepal and one in Lombardia, Italy. This focused on
sharing cultural and environmental knowledge. This expanded to
a 5-year project between the Social Anthropology department
and the Education faculty at Cambridge University with cross
cultural links established between primary schools in the fens,
Mongolia, Mexico and Alaska.
Bruce’s current research interests are on traditional papermaking
in the Himalayas and conservation activities in the region.
Hildegard Diemberger, lives in Cambridge and is the research
director at the Mongolia and Inner Asia Unit which is part of the
Social Anthropology Department at Cambridge University (she is
also a director of studies and a tutor at Pembroke college).
Hildegard has visited the region regularly since the 1980s. She is
fluent in Tibetan and has published some important translations
of Tibetan texts. The most recent is “When a woman becomes
a religious dynasty: The Samding Dorje Phagmo of Tibet”. Her list
of research projects is extensive, including ones related to the
Tibetan and Mongolian document collection in the university
library at Cambridge. She helped curate an exhibition at the
archaeology and anthropology museum in Cambridge in 2014:
Buddha’s Word.
The latest research project in the Himalayas with which she is
involved is a study of how communities in the West of Nepal and
in Bhutan have coped, over time, with natural disasters.
Hildegard is the secretary of the International Association for
Tibetan Studies and a trustee of a charity operating in Nepal:
Ecohimal.

WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
Good for Hollyhocks
Hollyhocks appear to do well in Melbourn. Their normal
height is six feet, but last year one in the village grew to
13 feet. This year one specimen seen by travellers along
Mortlock Street reached 14 feet and would have grown
even taller had not the wind and rain last weekend knocked
off its blossoming head and stunted its growth.
Independent Press Friday September 6th 1946

melbournmagazine@gmail.com

43

feature

A visitor to the parish
Thomas Rayson
Thomas Rayson, was an architect from Oxford, who had
a passion for drawing and watercolour. In the early 1900s,
whilst working in Cambridge, Thomas visited Melbourn
and spent some time illustrating and painting the buildings
in the village. The history group were fortunate to have
received some of his illustrations, which appear here.
Born in 1888, Thomas trained as an architect in London,
eventually moving to Oxford, where he became the
Chairman of the Oxford Art Society. He was also an
accomplished musician and ran a quartet with friends and
played with the Oxford Orchestral Society.

44

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Thomas continued to work as an architect until ill health
caused him to retire in 1974. He carried on his passion for art,
until his death in 1976.

Photograph by Nigel Cox

Photograph by Nigel Cox

Churches
Together
All Saints’ and Holy Trinity
We had a fantastic Easter at All Saints’, and Holy Trinity: a
full programme of services for Holy Week, including a Palm
Sunday procession in Meldreth with Noah the donkey, and
our friends from the URC and Baptist Churches – we were
supported in our hymn singing by a trumpeter, so those
who had overslept when the clocks went forward knew
they were late for church! We welcomed for worship even
more people for Holy Week and Easter than last year, which

is testimony to all the hard work put in by our musicians,
florists, servers, welcomers, cleaners, bell-ringers, sidespeople,
and every other kind of supporter – well done!
This summer, we look forward to a number of weddings
in both churches, as well as more and more baptisms.
If you’d like to enquire about being baptized or getting
married at Holy Trinity or All Saints’, do please just drop us
an email, and we’d be glad to hear from you.
On Saturday 16 June, we will be holding our annual
Meldreth Church Fete at Holy Trinity: do say a prayer for
good weather – and do come along and join us for an
afternoon of fun, food, and festivities! The weekend of 22–24
June sees the 10th anniversary of All Saints’ Community Hall
– do keep an eye out for an exciting programme of activities
and celebrations. On Sunday 8 July, we have our summer
Messy Church at Holy Trinity, again, at 3.30pm.
There’s so much going on this summer – we’d love
to welcome you to the party! Keep an eye out on
www.allsaintsmelbournholytrinitymeldreth.co.uk
or Facebook: @ASMHTM

United Reformed Church
Women’s World Day of Prayer

This years’ service was held in the Baptist church coffee
lounge on Friday 2nd March at 2.30pm. It was a bitterly
cold day and it had started to snow. Despite the weather
a number of people braved the elements to attend the
service which had been prepared by the Christian women of
Suriname on the theme 'All God’s Creation is Very Good!' We
reflected on God’s wonderful creation and on our personal
responsibilities and accountability to God as stewards. Seven
of us in turn unwrapped an object and threw the wrapping
on the floor, we then picked up the discarded wrapping
and placed it in the appropriate recycling box. We found
the service uplifting and relevant in our battle to keep our
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

45

Established 23 years, The Letting Centre is
a local, dedicated letting agency based in
Melbourn. With long-standing clients some of
whom have been with us for 20 years or more,
we aim to provide a personal, tailored service
covering Cambridge, Royston, Buntingford,
Saffron Walden and surrounding villages.
We offer discounted fees for multiple
properties, as well as those located in any of
the villages around Melbourn.

Melbourn Community Hall
is in the centre of the
village behind
All Saints Church

Call us for a free market appraisal and
comprehensive landlord pack.

If you would like to hire
the hall contact email:
hallbookings@live.co.uk

country free from litter and to reduce the use of plastic
which is causing pollution and endangering wild life and our
seas and its inhabitants. The collection sent to the Women’s
World Day of Prayer totalled £60.56 and will be used in their
work and projects run by Christian charities around the
world. There was a welcome hot drink and refreshments
after the service and a time to share fellowship before we
returned home in the snow.

Homelessness Sunday

We marked Homelessness Sunday on 28th January by
donating various items, including blankets and hats made by
our talented Craft & Chat Group, to Jimmy’s Night Shelter in
Cambridge as shown in the display. A cheque for £156 was
also given to Jimmy’s.

Saturday 24th March. Members and friends from all four
churches in the Linked Pastorate as well as friends from
the Melbourn and Meldreth Churches Together Group
attended a most enjoyable gathering. There was plenty of
delicious food and Duncan cut the special cake which was
shared around. Duncan was presented with signed cards and
gifts including an engraved tankard. Several people attended
Duncan’s induction into his new pastorate at Sherborne in
Dorset on Saturday 21st April at 3pm.

Spring Concert

We held a Spring Concert on the evening of Saturday
14th April given by Boniface Consort, a talented group
of musicians and singers led by Adrian and Naomi Brind.
They played the cello, violins, viola, flute, saxophones and
piano. We were wonderfully entertained with a wide range
of music and songs. The first half comprised several pieces
of music played on the flute and strings and 17th, 19th and
20th anthems sung unaccompanied including arrangements
of God so Loved the World and Be Still for the Presence of the
Lord. During the interval canapés and a glass of elderflower
presse were served. The second half began with a Gershwin
Suite for Saxophone Quartet followed by a medley of
popular songs including The Lady is a Tramp, Feeling Good
and Simon & Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence and Bridge
over Troubled Water. The concert ended with some fun
pieces by Richard Stilgoe and Peter Skellern. We then retired
to the hall to enjoy a hot buffet supper, pudding and wine.
The evening also included a raffle. We all had a thoroughly
enjoyable time which also raised money for church funds.

Duncan’s Farewell

A Farewell Afternoon Tea for our minister Rev’d Duncan
Goldie was hosted by our friends at Bassingbourn URC on

The Word of God
Sing unto The Lord, show forth His salvation. Declare His glory
among the heathen. He is to be feared above all gods, for
all the gods of the people are idols, but The Lord made the
heavens.
Give thanks unto The Lord, for he is good; His mercy
endureth for ever. Oh! Lord of our salvation, gather us together
and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to
Thy Name, Thy Holy Name, and glory in Thy praise.
(1 Chronicles 16 verses 23-26 and 34/35)
from David Burbridge

WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
Animated matting
Writing of the recent jumble sale in the Church Room,
the Vicar says in the July Parish magazine; ‘We had a
very successful jumble sale (June 19th) the final result
was some £43. Many thanks to donors, helpers and
buyers. A large piece of coco matting disappeared from
the Church Room. It must have walked off by itself,
leaving no trace. Maybe it will walk back again!’
Independent Press July 4th 1947

melbournmagazine@gmail.com

47

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Review
The Cambridge
Art Book
The City Through The
Eyes of its Artists
Emma Bennett, Editor
UIT Cambridge Ltd

What does Cambridge mean to you? For me it evokes hazy
summer days spent with my older sister, sitting on the greens
or singing. And to many others it means punting, bikes, wind,
history, bridges and learning.
For anyone with a history in the city, or for those still its
residents, The Cambridge Art Book gives a colourful, visceral
pull to the places you know well, but showcases them in new
and varied ways.

King’s Parade, Naomi Davies

Trinity College Library is stunningly intricate, and the papers
used to create it are all works connected with the library and
famous students who attended, including Sir Isaac Newton
and AA Milne. Susan Abbs’ Parker’s Piece also took me back
over a decade to sultry afternoons spent making memories
there. I’ll admit I got quite emotional whilst reading.
The book really is a compilation of what Cambridge means;
personally, culturally and historically. Whatever it is to you, a
tour of a city, a stroll down memory lane, The Cambridge Art
Book is a worthy and charming addition to any library.
Charlie Brind

he A Novel
by John Connolly
Hodder & Stoughton

Passageway, Pamela Marshall Barrell

The collection of works encompasses a wide range of
different mediums and styles, and the talent held within is
indisputable; as an artist, myself it is awe inspiring to see how
others work with such vastly different materials but the same
subject matter. Many pieces are tangibly seasonal, showcasing
how completely the mood of Cambridge changes with the
weather. There are also intimate, personal moments captured,
along with the architecture and culture that Cambridge is
famous for.
As I read the book, a few favourites began to emerge. The
collages of John Tordoff stood out to me, somehow imbuing
a near realism in his pieces despite the stylisation and text
print visible. Beth Lievesley’s collage of the 16th Century

I recently spent a very pleasant
relaxing evening at nearby Pirton
Community
Cinema.
The
Programme on offer, as often with
Pirton, was a fantastic night: famous
comedy film from the silent era. Two restored classic silent
films, Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last (1923) and Buster Keaton’s
The General (1926), were screened while an elderly gent
provided the live piano accompaniment on piano. Between
the films were several restored ‘PATHE NEWS’ reports, along
with a slightly damaged ‘PATHE NEWS’ original profiling a
gifted child musician Clifton Hughes as a London musical
‘Boy Wonder’. This Clifton Hughes had retired to live locally
and was the very same elderly gent who was providing the
piano accompaniment! What a joy!
Appetite whetted, I turned a few days later with great
anticipation to John Connolly’s latest work he A Novel. It is
a reimagining of the life of Stan Laurel, one half of the world
famous ‘Laurel and Hardy’ comedy partnership which began
in the silent era and had roots going deep into the Vaudeville
traditions of Britain and America.
John Connolly is a writer of great ability and great distinction.
He has written many works in several genres for both adults
and young adults. he A Novel is a major departure even
for him as it breaks new ground in both technical skills and
subject matter. Connolly goes back and forth repeatedly,
tracing an arc between the present (with an imagined Stan
Laurel retired at his Oceanic Apartments in Santa Barbara)
…continued on page 50
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

49

and the past (being the many high and low points of a career
of great creativity and endeavour and the grinding effort to
establish and sustain that career).
The book at 453 pages is long, but the 203 chapters are
each very short and it is not in any way difficult to read.
It delivers great insights from a writer who has a fondness
for both the artistic medium of film and that era. It is an
account of a performing artist’s huge personal ambition, with
fame and fortune achieved, but at his core a deep personal
sadness. Connolly’s skill as a writer is to reveal and explore,
even as the fame and fortune soared, that overwhelming
sadness he believes resides at the core of the person and
artist that was Stan Laurel. There are passages of writing that
are of great beauty. Their number and quality is such that
one stops to re-read and so enjoy again what Connolly has
honed so finely for his reader. There is also great humour,
with the text sprinkled liberally, and always appropriately, with
very funny one-liners delivered in context by stars who knew
about such things. And there are many such stars featured:
aspiring; established; still remembered; others sadly longforgotten despite the life-enhancing and cultural enriching
contributions they made.
A four letter word is used frequently by the author,
always correctly as a verb to describe the act of intercourse,
but it is unnecessarily coarse, and it does jar. He also uses a
gentle unobtrusive device whereby telling incidents from his
subject’s future are dropped into the narrative to grant greater
illumination to issues under consideration. So a different and
unusual book: not a biography of Stan Laurel but a thoughtful
novel – one great writer’s truthful re-imagining of a life led by
one-half of a legendary film partnership. Stan Laurel’s creative
mind and energy brought into being enduring works of art –
many subsequently lost – during an era which touched many
of us in our youth and can still touch us today, as it did me in
nearby Pirton some few months ago.
Hugh Pollock
Erratum
In the last issue of the magazine we carried a review of the book
Royston’s Heritage Buildings by Peter Robson. Unfortunately, the
name of the author was spelt incorrectly and should have read
Peter Ranson. We apologise to the author for any inconvenience
this may have caused.

Book Reviewers
Wanted
Would You like to review a book?
contact us at:
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

(If under 16 please seek permission of parent/guardian)

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Advice & Installation of
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Help with Selecting a
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A4/A3 laminating • A4 comb-binding
Small print runs on A6 to A3 media

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Working in and around Cambridge, Royston,
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1st Melbourn Brownies
1st Melbourn Brownies have been up to a lot since our last update, including
craft, cooking, badge work and trips. We ended the autumn term with a great
Christmas meal at the Jolly Postie in Royston where we were joined by the 2nd
Melbourn Guide group. Since then we have been learning about the Girlguiding
World Centres by trying a craft from each of the countries in which the centres
are located. We also had an evening preparing foods from each of those
countries and had an international feast at the end of the evening.
Several of our Brownies attended the annual World Thinking Day District
event. This year it was a trip to the cinema for a special screening of Moana just
for local units and their leaders. More recently, we have made decorative boxes
and cards for Mothers’ Day. In the last few weeks of the spring term, Easter
celebrations were underway which included pompom spring animals and an
Easter egg hunt.
If you (or your daughter) would be interested in joining in the fun,
please contact Steph (Brown Owl) by phone 01763 220272 or email
stefclifford@hotmail.com.

1st Melbourn Guides
It’s not an urban myth; there really is a Guides chocolate badge! In three weeks
before Easter, our Guides learnt about the history of chocolate, the economics
of Fair Trade and chocolate production, and drew a graph to compare their
chocolate eating habits. They also learned to make fudge and dipped fruit using
melted chocolate.
February 22nd is Scouts & Guides Thinking Day when we remember our
founder Lord Baden Powell, and acknowledge the spread of Guiding around the
world. We celebrated Thinking Day by sending home-made cards to our Guide
pen-friends in Morley, playing History of Guiding dominoes, and learning about
time zones and flying times to places where there are Guides around the world.
The Guides always have a say in our weekly programme, and one request
was a pamper evening, during which we had a go at face massage, nail buffing,
and hair braiding. Cooking is always requested too, so one evening there was a
cake decorating competition, and on another night two patrols competed to
produce a Chinese meal from basic ingredients and flavourings. Other activities
this term have included an evening at the swimming pool, and a cake stall at
Coffee Stop where we raised £26 for Wood Green Animal Shelter.
If you would like to know more about joining our Guide unit or becoming
a leader, or if you have any skills or hobbies which you would like to share with
us, please contact me on: 01763 261443 or email: melbournguides@gmail.com
Hilary Marsh
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

Registered Member of the British Association of Foot
Health Professionals

16 Hale Close, Melbourn
email: nancy.foster@tesco.net

We are a warm, friendly, family run home
conveniently situated close to the station
and town centre of Royston.
If you would like to find out more about
St George’s, please call us for a brochure
or drop in for a chat.
42 Kneesworth Street, Royston, Herts. SG8 5AQ
Telephone: 01763 242243
web site: www.stgeorgescare.com

52

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Cub Scouts

Melbourn Bridge Club

In the last term, we’ve tie dyed T-shirts, hiked with torches
along the Icknield way to Royston, made slime, bird-feeders
and pancakes (not all at the same time!), held a meeting in
the dark to learn about the environment and celebrate Earth
Hour, played many a game, and discussed our hobbies. Cubs
even learned useful skills like ironing, sewing and making tea.
Our plans to go to clip and climb were foiled by an early
March blizzard, but the cubs didn’t seem too upset – half
of them were on the heath sledging the next day and we’ve
rescheduled for May.
Five of our eldest cubs attended a sleepover weekend at
a very muddy farm with other cubs from Royston, doing
archery and cooking over a fire, and another group learned
bushcraft skills like fire-lighting and bivouac building.

The Bridge Club continues to thrive, Monday nights are
duplicate bridge nights and attracting 40+ players each
week, Tuesday afternoons is foreigners and improvers and
is attracting similar numbers. Before long this may prove
a problem as we can manage no more than 48 players for
each session!
Melbourn Bridge Club was founded by Howard Waller
and Tony Allan and between them they attend to the dealing
and the scoring, as well as sending out emails of results and
news. It is fortunate to have the expertise of Mike Thrower
as a tutor for the beginners, who runs a six to eight-week
course on a Tuesday afternoon. The beginners then progress
through to the improvers and then on to Monday evening.
We are also lucky to have the knowledge and experience of
Jane Tulloch to guide us through the mysteries of computers
and the web. Malcolm Dean completes the set up as a fully
qualified English Bridge Union Tournament Director.
Should any Melbourn Magazine reader wish to join us, at
any of our levels of play, please do not hesitate to contact
Howard Waller on 01763 261693.
Mondays arrive at the United Reform Church Hall
Orchard Road at 18.30,
Tuesdays arrive at 13.15. Sessions will last for three hours
Our determined ethos is for joyful bridge and this is
certainly how our players want it to be.

Winter is finally behind us, and the cubs of Melbourn and
surrounding villages can look forward to our most eventful
term ever. Not one, not two but three camps await us over
the next three months.
The cubs meet at Melbourn Primary School every Friday
6:45–8:00pm. Any adults interested in volunteering to join our
fun and adventure please contact me at cubs@1storwellscouts.
org.uk. We are full at present and unfortunately cannot accept
more cubs until we get enough adult volunteers to open
another pack. Young people can join our waiting list by
contacting admissions@1storwellscouts.org.uk.
Mike Woodrow, Cub Scout Leader. First Orwell Scout Group

Ramblers’ Association
Royston and District Group
Our walks programme continues right through the year.
For details visit our website: www.ramblers.org.uk or contact
David Allard (01763 242677). Email: david.allard@ntlworld.
com or Lesley Abbiss (01763 273463).
There is also a poster displaying walks for the current
month in Royston library, Royston Museum & Art Gallery
and Melbourn Hub.
We have walks on Sundays, which are normally 5–7
miles in the morning and a similar or shorter walk in
the afternoon. Occasionally Sunday walks are Figures
of Eight making it possible to do only the morning or
only the afternoon. Half-day walks (5–7 miles) are held
on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Our evening walks
(3–5 miles) will be on a different day each week and
will continue to the end of August. Prospective new
members may come on three walks before deciding whether
to join. www.ramblers.org.uk to join.

Royston & District Local
History Society
www.roystonlocalhistory.org.uk
Our website shows all the books we have for sale. Many
of these, result from the considerable work undertaken
by our Publications sub-committee. The books may be
…continued on page 55
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

53

feature
A Secret World

and a pleasant bike-ride to Cambridge
I’d like to show you a secret world. Hitherto only known about
by a few initiates, here is a garden of delights almost hidden
in plain sight. Find your way up the A10 towards Cambridge.
Just north of Harston, the road bends around sharply and
crosses over the river Granta. If you’re driving, there’s a little
parking area just north of the bridge – park there. But you
can cycle there from Melbourn on a nearly traffic-free route
in about forty minutes without the need for sweat or lycra.
Anyway, the gateway to the secret world is on the left of
the A10, just after the bridge. A path leads off the narrow
pavement and away from the noise and fumes of the traffic,
and sets off across an open field. Come with me – on foot or
by bike – and discover a little oasis hidden from view.

1
Within minutes, the bustle of traffic gives way to birdsong
and bleating sheep.
The path eventually joins up to an old concrete farm
road, taking you gently up the rise towards the M11. Despite
being within a few hundred metres of two busy roads,
it is surprisingly quiet. This is the beginning of the new
Trumpington Meadows Country Park – land that was once
used by the Plant Breeding Institute for crop trials. The Maris
Piper potatoes and Maris Otter malting barley have now
given way to rough grassland and wildflowers. Eventually, you

2
will reach a dogleg in the path and a bridge over the busy
motorway.
Beyond the bridge, there are two routes. Bear left to
explore the rest of the country park, which eventually will
lead you to Byron’s Pool and Granchester Road. Keeping
straight ahead on the concrete farm road, you should then
quickly bear right onto a path that runs parallel to it. This is a
temporary path – in the sense that it’ll be with us for at least
five years – that runs around the edge of the new housing
development and comes out at the traffic lights where the
Addenbrooke’s link road joins Hauxton Road. You can then
walk or cycle a few hundred metres to the Park and Ride site
and join the path along the guided busway to reach central
Cambridge or Addenbrooke’s.
If you’re trying to walk or cycle between Harston and
Cambridge, this route is much more pleasant than the
narrow path alongside the A10 and having to cross the
M11 roundabout. A ride from Melbourn to Cambridge
station at a leisurely pace will take you about an hour.
If you’d like to see local routes for walking and cycling
continue to be improved, please join the A10 Corridor
Cycling campaign.
Details are at www.a10corridorcycle.com
Mike Prior-Jones

3
2

Trumpington

3
1
Harston

54

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

M11
Junction 11

ordered by post from David Allard 01763 242677. They may
also be purchased at the Royston Museum & Arts Gallery
in Kneesworth Street (open Wednesdays, Thursdays and
Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4.45 p.m.) and some are available at the
Cave Bookshop in Melbourn Street or at Royston Library.
The society is responsible for the opening of Royston Cave,
Melbourn Street, Royston which will be open on Saturdays,
Sundays and Bank Holidays until the end of September 2p.m.
to 4.30 p.m. (last admission 4p.m.) www.roystoncave.co.uk.
Our evening meetings, which are held in the Heritage
Hall (the main hall downstairs) Royston Town Hall will
re-commence on 4th October and thereafter on the first
Thursday of each month. Annual membership £5 (Sept-Aug)
(Under 18s half price)
Our annual coach outing is on Saturday 2nd June to the
north Norfolk coast. Email: david.allard@ntlworld.com

Cambridgeshire Family
History Society
Our monthly meetings are held in the Central Library, Lion
Yard, Cambridge, between 10.30am and 3.30pm. Everyone is
welcome and entry is free. The meetings follow a pattern of
research being available all day plus talks at 12.30 and 2pm.
»» 9 June 12.30 The 4 Rs – Parish Registers (2) with Caroline
Norton. Following on from last month, we will consider
how to try locating ‘your’ parish registers, and offer some
practical ideas for making the most of online searches.
2.00 The History of the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity with Bec
Beattie. “A talk about the transition of the Arthur Rank Hospice
Charity from the start of the hospice movement to present day”
»» 14 July No Speaker – Help and information only
»» 11 August No Speaker – Help and information only

The information above is correct at time of publication but
should there be any change it will be advised on our website
www.cfhs.org.uk either on the Home page or in the monthly
Newsletter.

Melbourn Bowls Club
By the time this article is published the Summer Season will
be well under way. The winter has not been wasted as more
updating and maintenance of the Clubhouse has been carried
out as well as continuing with our fortnightly Whist evenings
to keep our members involved with the club. In addition, we
arranged for further work to be carried out on the green with
what appears to be encouraging results.
We are looking forward to integrating the new members
who joined last year with coaching sessions arranged for
those who were new to the game to help them perform in
the various league teams. Many of them made a very made a
very promising start last year and we are hopeful that they will
further improve and prove valuable members of our league
teams.
We are continuing to run our weekly Coffee Mornings
under the able supervision of Muriel Cooper. These take place

every Thursday at the Clubhouse from 10.30 till 12.00 noon
and all are welcome whether members or not. This is a good
opportunity to meet on a social basis and we try to make
everyone feel welcome and pride ourselves as being a friendly
group. There is normally some activity on the green and you
will have an opportunity to watch member’s efforts.
We hold informal ‘Roll Ups’ every Monday afternoon and
if you are interested in taking up the game of bowls we would
welcome you turning up at the green on a Monday afternoon,
when members will always be on hand to explain how to play
to those new to the game or to discuss membership with
experienced Bowlers.
League games are generally played in the evenings and on
Wednesday afternoons, while friendly matches are normally
played on Sunday afternoons. We welcome spectators and
for those who have no knowledge of the game there will
always be members available to explain what is going on.
If anyone is interested in taking up the game and would
like to discuss the possibilities, then please contact Arthur
Andrews (tel 261990) who will be pleased to discuss how the
club can help.

Melbourn Dynamos Football
Club
All welcome!

www.melbourndynamos.co.uk
Melbourn Dynamos FC is a friendly community youth
football club that gives boys and girls the opportunity to play
regular football regardless of their experience or ability at all
ages from 3 through to 18.
We are a successful club defined by the strength of support
from members and families, the praise and recognition of
fellow clubs and FA Leagues, the work with our Community
partners including Melbourn Village College and Melbourn
Parish Council, and of course our players’ achievements on
the pitch and their support for the community. With the
support of our benefactors and community partners, we are
making the club more inclusive by assisting players whose
families are unable to afford the necessary fees.
Nationally, there has been much concern about historical
failures to protect children in youth football. MDFC takes
these concerns very seriously and reassures our community
that as a Charter Standard Club we have the required child
protection measures in place, that we are annually audited by
the FA and that we remain vigilant. All coaches and assistants
are both qualified and DBS/CRB checked before they work
with our players.
We have had a successful season with new teams and
players welcoming the opportunity to play for Melbourn
Dynamos. We have had more 40 players in our Girls’ Teams
at U10, U11, U13 & U17 and including our Dynamites and
13 other teams, we have more than 230 players at the club.
Disappointingly, like many youth football clubs, we have not
had sufficient players this season to run an U16s or U18s team.
This trend has been recognised by the FA and we are working
hard with our younger teams to ensure that we maintain
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

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56

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

U13s team who reached the Cup Final of the Royston Crow Youth
Football League

strong squad sizes as they progress to 11-a-side football
and the senior teams. Since the beginning of the year, bad
weather and waterlogged pitches have caused frustration and
a number of cancelled matches.
Congratulations are due to our brilliant U13s team who
have reached the Cup Final of the Royston Crow Youth
Football League played on 6th May at Buntingford. This is a
very special day for our players, providing them with a real
cup final experience at a larger ground with many supporters
creating a great atmosphere. We are also very pleased with
the success of our youngest players, the Dynamites, who
increasingly provide the core of our league teams from
under 7 upwards. The Dynamites’ coaching team is led by
Dipak Patel. Dee was Cambridge FA’s Community Coach of
the year for 2013, gained his Level 2 coaching qualification
in June 2015 and is our Football Development Officer. This
year in recognition of his tremendous work for the club and
community, Dee has been nominated as Coach of the Year
as part of the FA’s Community Awards. These players, aged
3-6, have fun and develop their skills before deciding whether
to play league football as the club’s under 7s team. This fun,
preparation and skill development through the Dynamites
has undoubtedly brought more success to our current League
Teams. These players train with level 2 and level 1 FA qualified
coaches in a Saturday morning fun session for 3-6-year-old
boys and girls between 09.15–10.15 a.m. at Melbourn Sports
Centre. Sessions feature lots of short activities aimed at
improving individual skills, concentration and the ability to be
part of a team. The first one hour session is free thereafter we
charge £2. Everyone is welcome to the Melbourn Dynamites
so why not bring your kids along so they can check it out.
This year the Club has been invited by the Melbourn Fete
Committee to be partners in the Village’s major fundraising
raffle. Fundraising is an important part of the club’s income
to help minimise fees, support and develop youth football in
the village, our community work and help make the beautiful

game accessible to all. The club will be appearing at the Fete
this year with some of our younger players demonstrating the
skills that they have been developing.
We hosted the Royston Crow Youth Football League’s U9s’
Tournament on 19th May. We are welcoming many visitors
to the village to enjoy the great facilities that we are fortunate
to use and the beautiful setting. We are also looking forward
to the club’s Presentation Day on Sunday 10th June. Once
again Melbourn Village College has kindly agreed to host our
annual celebration. As in previous years we will presenting
the Tom Whitely Community Award to one of our many
players who best demonstrate the club’s commitment to our
Community. Tom was one of our players and at this event
we will also be raising money for Tom’s Trust www.tomstrust.
org.uk.
All our coaches are DBS/CRB checked and qualified to a
minimum of FA Level1 standard. In addition, as a Partnership
Club of Cambridge United and through the support of the
FA, our coaches are now receiving high level mentoring and
support to develop our players and above all else provide
them with enjoyment and exercise. We are also an FA Charter
Standard Club which means that we have all the correct
people and practices in place to operate in line with FA &
government requirements. Everyone is welcome and we are
delighted to offer opportunities from age 4 upwards. Why
not find out more about MDFC and the opportunities to
play football with us by contacting David Atkins on 01763
263462 or email: secretary.mdfc@gmail.com.
The club’s success depends entirely on enthusiastic
members and volunteers. Our continuing success and growth
means that we need even more volunteers. If you feel that
you would like to contribute to the club as an administrator,
communications leader, fund-raiser, fixtures secretary, coach,
match day official or in some other volunteer capacity then
we would be pleased to hear from you through secretary.
mdfc@gmail.com or chairman.mdfc@gmail.com. More
information about the club and individual teams is available
from the club’s Website: www.melbourndynamos.co.uk.
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

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For those of you who don’t already know, we have:
A state of the art fitness suite offering a variety of membership
schemes
A 20-metre swimming pool (kept ever so slightly warmer than
most!)
A comprehensive
lesson of
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Fishing
tackle swimming
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fishing catering for all
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Upgraded
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Wide
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squash
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Water sports courses and activities
Traditional and modern exercise classes
Access to Melbourn Village College sports hall and gymnasium
for activities such as trampolining, badminton and basketball
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Supervised sports and pool parties

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Kids Activities
With the summer holidays, fast approaching, it’s not too early or
too late to start planning your summer sports. We have a variety
of activities to choose from, including our Ofsted Registered
Playscheme (The Kidz Factor), Trampoline Crash Course, Sport
Taster Sessions and Swimming Crash Course. Also available are our
very popular Children’s Sports Camps, always a fun way to try out
both mainstream and specialist activities.
Get Fit For The Summer!
Why not let us help you shape up before your summer holidays?
We have loads of classes to keep you fit and healthy, including
Boot Camp, Body Sculpture and Aquafit. Or why not take
advantage of one of our great membership schemes to our fitness
suite, which houses the latest in gymnasium equipment, including
C.V machines fitted with audio visual technology.
We also welcome back the outdoor sports and tennis season.
For all you budding Wimbledon stars, courts can be hired midweek and at weekends. For those that want to improve their
ability or to take their tennis to the next level, then why not have
some lessons? We’ve teamed up with MF Tennis to offer coaching
session on a Saturday morning/afternoon, as well as midweek slots
on a Wednesday evening. For further information please contact
Matt Fellingham 07779 273655 or e-mail: matt@mftennis.com
Party Time!
Looking for the perfect venue to hold your children’s birthday
party? Then your search is over! We have all the facilities here for
a fun-packed event with a variety of activities for your guests to
enjoy, including trampolining (always a popular choice), football
and traditional pool parties.
We will also be holding a Family Fun Day on Saturday
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

59

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Spring saw the completion of a major re-design and development
of the top half of the site, as well as a small adjustment to the
advanced line at the bottom end of the site.
Since then there have been many club members returning
from far and wide, including all the way from Australia!
There are also plans for an End of Season Jam in the late
summer as a fund-raising exercise for the club!
The club is open annually April to September.
Strictly for BMX use only, for ages 12 and older, members
have the option of either becoming a seasonal member for £50
(April to September), or a day member (per session) for £10.
melbournmagazine@gmail.com

61

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Our aim for the club is
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Melbourn and surrounding
areas to participate in,
with the guidance of our
committee and experts, in a
safe and friendly environment.
Members will have access to
BMX coaching and expertise
on site during club open days.
For more details and to
download your membership
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Acknowledgements: Melbourn Parish Council for their
ongoing support at all levels to keep the club sustainable and
open; Norburys Builder Merchants for their supply of aggregates
and plant to move it around our site; Frog End Pet Supplies
Melbourn for their supply and delivery of wooden pallets to help
keep our tarpaulins in place to protect the site over the winter
months; Wrights Mower Centre Melbourn for their help and
generosity in supporting us to keep the site to a well maintained
and safe standard for the foreseeable future.

WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Paperchase
After further strenuous training another paper chase took
place last Sunday morning on the course from the
village green to the railway station, and among the many
local competitors were several holiday makers and
evacuees, but keen as were the visitors some were not
well acquainted with the course and a few lost their way.
Many of the natives managed to secure copies of a
newspaper for themselves and for their neighbours and
friends, some capturing a dozen, with the result that
many regular and stay-at-home villagers were deprived of
their Sunday newsprint.
It is reported that there was a most exciting happening
at the winning post when one of the first and most
selfish villagers to reach the newspaper sellers was refused
to be supplied owing to his most unsportsmanlike action.
The newsboys expect to find among the earliest arrivals
women without lipstick or stockings and in the scantiest
attire, also men without collars, coats, waistcoats and
even shoes, but they rightly disqualified and refused to
supply the man on a cycle who in his greedy haste to get
a newspaper had omitted to don his nether garment he
arriving at the goal absolutely trouserless a state of
undress rightly considered to be most unfair. Had this
newsgrabbers indiscretion and unseemly behaviour been
excused there is no telling what it might have led to, and
to what curious sights we might see on coming Sunday
mornings.
Independent Press Sep 1st 1944

melbournmagazine@gmail.com

63

feature
Prehistoric discoveries in
Melbourn
Melbourn is surrounded by over 50 archaeological sites
and excavation of these has provided evidence of human
habitation for over 12,000 years.
Iron Age and Roman settlements and burial monuments
can be found throughout the Parish, many identifiable on
aerial photographs, which show up as cropmarks and soilmarks. There are also two prehistoric trackways that passed
through the Parish – Ashwell Street and the Icknield Way,
both Romanised in 42–410 AD.
The earliest known archaeological dig in the village
took place in 1952 and captured the public’s interest.
The site covered the area where Saxon Way now stands.
Unfortunately, before the archaeologists began work on
this Anglo-Saxon cemetery, residents plundered the site
and took many artefacts as ‘souvenirs’, including human
bones. Fortunately, today archaeological excavations are
controlled.
Since the 1950s there have been at least ten
further archaeological digs throughout
the Parish, some nothing more than an
explorative dig to see if the ground
held any archaeological value. Most
contained little more than flint,
pottery and animal bone.
The most significant dig in Melbourn was in 2000 when
a large Anglo-Saxon cemetery was discovered at the top
of Water Lane, now Chalkhill Barrow. There were some
59 individuals buried on the site and some very interesting
finds, which included a Square Headed brooch and a
Radiate brooch.

In 2017 a team of archaeologists from ‘Oxford
Archaeology East’ excavated the site in New Road where
199 homes are to be built. The following is their report.
Earlier investigations suggested the site contained scattered
evidence for prehistoric Neolithic and Bronze Age (roughly
3000–1200BC) activity, partly overlain by a medieval or
post-medieval ditched road. Further investigation threw up
several surprises.

Well

Barrow
Roundhouse

Bronze Age Ditch

New Road excavation site

Roundhouse

Barrow

Post Medieval Track

Neolithic Pits

64

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Further detailed analysis of the finds and reporting
of the excavation results of the New Road site is
now underway, with a program of radiocarbon
dating expected to improve our understanding of
site’s use over time.
www.oxfordarchaeology.com

Burial of an adolescent, crouched on
their side holding a flint knife.

A pit containing antlers of red and roe deer

The evaluation had hinted at early land use with the
discovery of several glacial hollows containing Mesolithic
(3000 BC) and early Neolithic (10,200 BC) finds, but the recent
excavation also uncovered a collection of later Neolithic pits.
These contained Grooved ware pottery sherds, hundreds of
flints, hazelnut shells and a haul of animal bone, including
those of aurochs as well as domesticated cow, and most of an
antler. Another such pit contained the collected antlers of red
and roe deer as well as elk.
One Bronze Age barrow had been identified in the
earlier site evaluation, but the excavation revealed another
double ditched barrow. At the centre of this barrow was a
Beaker period (Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age) burial of an
adolescent, crouched on their side holding a flint knife, which
just survived centimetres from the hollow way of the road.
While no early dating evidence for the road has emerged,
there were clearly several phases of ditch cutting and
realignment and it possibly formed part of a known Roman
route â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ashwell Streetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. which can be traced to the west of
Melbourn and to the east through a Roman settlement in
Fowlmere.
Further surprises lay just north of this road, where a
previously unsuspected Bronze Age settlement site
was discovered. Further investigation revealed at least 9
roundhouse-style structures and several lines of former post

Beaker period adolescent laid in position as it was
found in the grave (see above).
Exhibition at MVC. Photograph, Jan Simmonett

fences. Finds recovered included Bronze Age pottery and
worked flint tools. A particularly unusual feature of this
enclosure is that it was built from closely spaced timber posts
in the late Early Bronze Age and was then replaced with a
ditched boundary during the early Middle Bronze Age.

Sunday, 10th June at 3.00 pm
Tickets £10. Info how to book on our website
www.caldecotechurchfriends.org.uk

Gates open at 6.30pm

Fuchsia Festival

Tickets are £14.00 adults, £7.00 Child (5–16).

Caldecote Church

Available from illyria.co.uk (+5% fee) or telephone
01763 208516 or from Foxton and Thriplow Village Shops.
Bringing to life a funny, much-loved and exciting adventure,
with a strong message about responsibility to animals and
the environment.
This is a fund-raising event in aid of Fowlmere Village Hall.

A NIGHT AT THE RACES
Meldreth Village Hall

Friday 22nd June 7.00 for 7.15pm
Have a flutter in aid of Home-Start Royston and
Cambridgeshire
Tickets: £12.00 – to book please ring 01763 262262
Email admin@hsrsc.org.uk
or buy on-line at www.ticketsource.co.uk/hsrsc
www.hsrsc.org.uk

21st and 22nd July
If you have hand crafted goods to sell, please get in touch.
Grazyna Tutak, Caldecote Church Friends
email: grazyna.tutak@ntlworld.com

‘A Sprig of Thyme’
Royston and District Choral Society’s concert

Saturday 30th June – 7.30 pm
at Barkway Parish Church Join us in beautiful Barkway for a
wander down a rustic memory lane.
Tickets £12 (concessions £9, school students £1) at
www.bit.ly/RCSJun2018, on the door or from Caroline Franks
telephone 01920 822723/ email caroline.franks@rf152.co.uk

Independent Local Family
Funeral Director
Providing a caring and personal service
24 hours a day for all your funeral needs.
Offering Help & Guidance through every step.

Office & Chapel of Rest :

12, Church Lane, Royston,
Herts SG8 9LG
Telephone:

01763 242560
www.jeremyrulefunerals.co.uk

70

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Melbourn magazine is non-profit and all work on the magazine including
design and layout are produced by volunteers. The Magazine is published
four times a year in the first week of March, June, September and
December. We print 2200 copies which are delivered free to every house in
the village. Advertising revenue is used for printing costs only.
Adverts should be supplied as finished artwork and must be at the sizes
shown below. Please send artwork to melbournmagazine@gmail.com.
The current rates for advertising in the Magazine are as follows:
Size per…

The Melbourn magazine team would like to thank all our advertisers for their support and sponsorship

71

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Memory Lane
Voyage to Ceylon
Unabridged version
In 1937, Isabella Hagger of Melbourn embarked on a sea
voyage to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to visit her husband
Cyril who was working for the Admiralty, constructing
oil storage tanks. Isa (as she preferred to be called) kept a
detailed journal of her out-going journey and of the seven
months she spent in Ceylon. This journey was at a time
when few ventured out of the country to see the world.
On her return Isa was asked to give a talk about
her experiences to the Congregational Church Women’s
Group. Below is an abridged version of this interesting
story which she wrote 80 years ago.
Mrs. Davis and fellow members, before I left Melbourn for
Ceylon I had to give my solemn promise to Mrs. Davis that
on my return I would speak to you at our Women’s meeting.
It was very easy to promise as it seemed such a long off, but
now that the time has come, it is much more difficult.
I do not want any of you to imagine that I am going to
give a learned discourse on Ceylon – I am not nearly clever
enough to do so, but I would like you to imagine that you
have just dropped in to pay me a visit and that we are sitting
around the fire and I am retailing a few stories and incidents
that happened to me on my voyage to Ceylon and during
my holiday there.
My friends were all very kind and gave me a wonderful
send off from Melbourn on Oct. 8t” when I left about 8 a.m.
to start on my journey to join my ship the “Rajputana” at
George V docks London. We had an uneventful motor run
to the docks and my family tried to make the parting as easy
for me as possible.
I will never forget the moment when the Rajputana slid
out of the docks at 1 p.m. and I had started on my long
journey. The lump in my throat seemed too big for me to
control, but on looking around I found many people who
had quite lost control and were making very distressing
scenes and this helped me to compose myself, and give a
watery smile and a wave as the car containing my girls drove
away.
Lunch was served as soon as the ship sailed, and on my
brother’s good advice I had some soup “because it slips
over the lumps so easily”. I spent the afternoon unpacking
and walking around the decks all alone, and I must admit
feeling rather miserable. We had tea at 4.30, and as soon as
that was over the bell rung for boat drill. I had imagined that
would be a fearful ordeal and pictured myself scrambling
into a given place in one of the small boats, and I even
thought there was a probability of the boat being lowered,
www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

but I was quite wrong and the drill was over in a very few
minutes. We merely put on our life belts and listened to a
few instructions, given by one of the ships officers.
At dinner we were put at our allotted places in the
dining saloon and were able to exchange remarks with our
table companions, and as soon as dinner was over a red
headed scotch lady from Glasgow came up and spoke to
me in the lounge, and made plans to meet me on deck next
morning and she proved to be a very good friend to me and
remained so throughout the voyage.
We arrived at Southampton the next day and I went
ashore for two hours. We sailed from Southampton at
2 p.m., and the voyage started in earnest. Very soon the
wind started to blow and the sea became very rough and
I felt very very sick. I had heard that the state of feeling
seasick is purely mental, and that if one fights against it, one
is alright. Believe me, I fought as hard as I could and tried
every suggested cure from Glucose D to green apples, but
I had to retire to my little bunk in my cabin, with the very
big basin the P&O Company so very kindly provides for the
convenience of their sea sick passengers.
It is best for me to draw a veil over the next few days,
unless to remark on the great kindness I received. The
stewardess was kindness itself to me, and helped me in every
possible way. She was a motherly soul, who loved her work
and put many more hours into it than ever she was paid
for. She was Scotch, and this of course was a great bond
between us. She would bring me all sorts of dainties, to try
to make me eat and say “you must eat lassie or yer man
won’t know you when you arrive at Colombo”.
I felt somewhat better by the time we arrived at Gibraltar
and was so thrilled at the sight of the Rock that I quite forgot
I had been ill. There it stands so big, so strong and so truly
British, that I felt really proud to be a Briton. I did not go
ashore at Gibraltar although lots of the passengers did so,
but I shall always be glad to think that I have been privileged
to see this ‘Guardian of the Mediterranean’. We sailed from
Gibraltar again, about 5 p.m., and as we sailed along we
could hear the Spanish guns and see the flashes. As night fell
a huge ensign was flood lit on the ship’s stern to proclaim to
all the world that we were British.
Some nervous souls on board circulated most alarming
rumours about mines, and Spanish airplanes etc, but we
never were in any danger and we were well protected by
British war ships all through the Mediterranean.
Our next port was Marseilles and as we stayed there
a whole day and night most of the passengers had a trip
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1

into the town. Marseilles is a fine big city, but as the town
is 3 miles from the docks one has to take a tram or a taxi.
A party of five of us went ashore as safety in numbers
seems to be the rule, with all passengers landing at Marseilles.
Even with this party we had the unpleasant experience
of being followed for 2 hours by an objectionable looking
man. So persistent was he that we had to ask a Gendarme
to speak to him, while we got a taxi to get away from him.
We all wished we had been a little more studious with our
French at school, as we had the utmost difficulty in stating
our case to the police man, and he could not speak a word
of English.
We did not do any sightseeing as we were all bent on
shopping, but we were long enough ashore to realise the
truth of the saying that every nationality can be found in
Marseilles. We found good bargains in the shops as the rate
of exchange was in our favour. I went into the store where
the devastating fire took place last week.
As we were nearing Malta the ship began to roll again
and only by sheer will power was I able to stay on deck.
It was dark and we were not allowed to land but I spent
a whole day there coming home, and I was charmed with
the wonder of the harbour, the cleanness of the buildings,
and the quaintness of the little streets. We had some
distinguished passengers on board for Malta, among them
Lady Georgiana Kidston (The Earl of Howe’s daughter)
with her baby, nurse and ladies-maid. Naturally the women
passengers were interested in the arrival of her husband to
meet her and although we were told that society people
make no fuss on these occasions, he arrived in an Admiralty
launch with a huge bouquet of red roses and tore up the
gangway to meet Lady Georgiana. She is very lovely and
was dressed in a navy blue coat and skirt with beautiful red
fox furs, hat shoes and gloves in the same lovely shade. The
baby in a mosses basket was simply sweet in palest pink
wraps and half way down the gangway Lord Kidston took
the basket from the Nannie and peered in to see if his wee
daughter was alright.
I went down for dinner and my sympathetic table
steward advised me to eat while the boat was still as it was
going to be very rough again. That meal on the 17th had to
last me a very long time, as it was at Port Said on the 20th
before I could take the next one. One of the joys of real
seasickness is that one feels so ill, that night and day are all
the same and friends and relations do not matter. It is a full
time job! I must just add too that it was so rough that I was
all covered with black and blue bruises as the lurching ship
knocked its poor passengers into any post or pillar or chair
in the cabins or lounges.
By that time I had become quite used to the men who
came into my cabin to shut and open the port hole, as the
weather and storms would allow. Although I must admit
that even at the end of the voyage I still used to wish that
the bath steward would not thurst his arm into my bath to
test its temperature.
I enjoyed my visit to Port Said and that walk on terra
www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

firma seemed to put me right for the rest of the voyage.
There is nothing of any special interest to see at Port Said,
but it is the first taste of The East and a traveller going East
for the first time is almost bewildered by the scene. The
natives are so brightly dressed and the dwellings so different
from any of the western ports. Port Said has one huge store
called Simon Arzt to which everyone seems to pay a visit. It
is full of curios and souvenirs, and lots of people buy their
sun helmets and topees there.
It was very warm and we only stayed ashore about
2 hours. I was interested in all the strange sights, but it is so
difficult to get along the streets as the beggars and street
vendors worry the people from the ship all the time. My
husband had wanted me never to go ashore without a
man in the party and here I realised what good advice that
was. The beggars perform all sorts of tricks too. The most
popular is called the ‘gilly gilly’ trick. He shows a small egg
to the interested spectator, and in a very few minutes 5 or 6
real live chickens appear apparently from space. No one has
ever found out the secret of the trick. It is very easy to land
at Port Said as there is a pontoon from the ship to the street.
One merely walks down the gangway on to the pontoon
and so ashore, doing away with all the queuing up for small
boats that there are at so many ports.
We sailed from Port Said and by this time everyone on
board was happy and friendly and I wondered how I ever
could have felt lonely. We each knew our friends’ complete
life story and I found that instead of being the only woman
on board who had to pluck up courage to leave their homes
and children, that I was one of many, and one of the very
lucky ones, as my visit was really a holiday. Lots of mothers, I
found, had left children for 2, 3 and even 5 years. Deck games
were in full swing, dances, concerts and cinema shows were
arranged and everyone was jolly and friendly.
We did not land at Suez, but we were fortunate to go
through the Suez Canal by daylight. It is such a narrow canal
that it seemed as if our ship would get stuck, but the pilot
seemed to know his job and we just glided along.
I wish I could describe the wonder of it all. The huge
desert stretching on either side, and the camels going quietly
along with their burdens, often silhouetted against the sky
line, made unforgettable and lovely pictures. Along the canal
at intervals were little settlements, where an engineer has
his home and, at each, someone came out to wave to our
big ship, as it passed on its way. A full moon came up that
evening and no one thought of bed we just strolled on the
decks, looking at these lovely scenes, all turned to silver by
this huge moon. It was very warm going through the Red
Sea and the same full moon lit up the sea and the decks
and enabled us to keep on deck to cool down after dinner.
In connection with this moon I must tell you of a young
Scotch lad on board. His name was Hughie and he was only
20. He had left his home at Port Glasgow to go to Singapore
for 5 years. He had left a mother and father, 5 brothers and
sisters and a sweetheart. He was leaning against the rail one
night looking at this lovely moon, and as I noticed he was
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alone and seemed very disconsolate, I went to speak to him
saying “Isn’t that a lovely full moon Hughie?” “Yes” he replied
“it is, but it makes me so home-sick to think that that same
moon is shining down on all my folks at Port Glasgow”.
Hughie, too had been very ill during the early part of the
voyage, and hearing from my stewardess that he was feeling
pretty bad, I went along to see him in his cabin. He looked
very green and such a boy with his rumpled fair hair and I
asked him if there was anything he wanted. “Yes” he said “my
Mother”. However, he soon cheered up after I had asked to
see his photographs of all his people and his girlfriend. This
I found was the best form of consolation to any lonely soul
on board ship. Whenever the snaps came out, the owner
smiled and confidences were soon exchanged.
Some of you may have heard of the tragedy which befell
me in the Red Sea. One morning I looked in my denture dish
and thinking the water in it was not very fresh I emptied it
out of the port-hole and with it my lower teeth, which I
had only had a short time before I left home. I felt terrible
about it, I thought it would spoil my trip but apart from the
fact that I could not eat very well I managed to live it down,
although at the time I was very sorry for myself and very
annoyed at my own stupidity.
I had many things told me for my consolation, but I
think the most comforting was a friend who wrote from
home to tell me this story. A lady, who shared a cabin with
another travelling East, felt rather thirsty one night in her
bunk. Without switching on the light, she reached out for
a tumbler of water and finding it a little warm, she threw it
out of the port-hole and took some fresh water and went
to sleep. Can you imagine her feelings in the morning to
find she had thrown away her cabin companion’s top and
bottom teeth and do you wonder that they both had a
most unhappy trip?
Our next port of call was Aden and it was a very hot job
walking around the little town as the temperature was over
100 degrees. As the ship sails in one had the impression
of huge cardboard mountains cut out and stuck around
the little town, enclosing it so gray are they and no sign of
vegetation at all. I spent about an hour in the queer little
shops and looking at the curios and silks.
I had a new and thrilling experience at Aden. A friend,
who had been an engineer for 7 years on the cable ship
the Mirror found that his boat was in the bay and he took
me aboard. There are 17 officers and a Captain on the
Mirror all European and a native crew. The officers gave us
a wonderful welcome. They had not had a female on board
for months and months and out came all the snaps of their
wives, sweethearts and babies. When they found I was really
interested in their photos, they could not do enough for me
and after a breakfast, which was jolly and lengthy and most
unusual, they sent my friend and me back to the Rajputana
in their lovely motor launch. The men on these ships have
a lonely life, often not calling at a port for months on end.
Their job is to mend the broken cables for the Eastern
Telegraph Company radiating to many parts of the world,
www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

which means that they are frequently weeks at sea, out of
sight of land.
On Oct 26th the whole day was given up to the children
of whom there were about 25 on board. In the morning they
had sports watched with great interest by all the passengers.
Tiny tots of 2 and 3 years caused great amusement, by
entering into the various events with jest and vigour.
At 4 p.m. in the dining saloon the children had their party.
No effort had been spared to make the tables attractive,
and once again all the grownups trooped down to see the
children have a lovely tea. At 5 p.m. the prizes were given
away and in addition each child was given a present. Then
after Nuts-in-May and a few more jolly games the wee ones
went off to bed with a memory, I am sure, which will last a
very long time.
As we are all women with daily meals to prepare I thought
a few words on the food and catering on the ship might be
of interest. I had a chat with the head steward, one day, who
told me some very interesting food facts, among them was
one which made a great impression on me. Everything is
done to ensure fresh supplies of fruit and vegetables and
the P&O Company’s own extensive farms in Australia, to
which they send out seeds from home, and so the ships
can pick up a good supply of home produce for the return
journey. All the bread and cakes are made on board, and as
there were over 2,000 tomato sandwiches alone cut every
afternoon, you can imagine the bakers were kept busy. We
picked up fruit at each port, and so we were privileged to
enjoy most delicious fruits as we got further east. It was a
marvel to me to be able to get crisp lettuce in the middle
of the Red Sea and shows how well the refridgerators act.
The head steward, too, compiles the menus and I think he
must have been a man of great imagination as at each port
we had a suitable dish, for example at Marseilles the fish was
Marseilles slips (slips are small Dover sole) while at Malta the
trifle was a Maltese one. The stewards are so considerate and
so anxious to please that even a fastidious soul who could
not make a choice from the very long menu can still have
some special dish made to order.
Another source of great interest on big ships are the ladies
fashions. The weather conditions are so hot that that alone
is a good excuse for the girls to make frequent changes. For
sport, which is indulged in nearly all mornings, the pretty
cotton dresses and shorts are most suitable. Some of the
girls wear slacks all the time but they cannot be cool and
are not very becoming. Lots of people retire for a siesta
after lunch and appear for tea in a little more frilly frock
than the morning one. From tea till dinner nearly everyone
takes exercise and walking is the most popular form at that
hour. It is at dinner that one really sees the fashion parade.
Girls who have been in shorts all day emerge in beautiful
evening gowns of every colour and description making a
really charming scene. You must remember it is so warm
that evening dress is the coolest one can wear and it is easy
to look ones best under these conditions. I expect I must
just touch on the ship board romances of which we read
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so much. I sat at a table with nearly all young boys and girls
going East for business or pleasure. The amusing part was
that they so quickly changed their affection, from one to
another that one knew that they were all just “ships that
pass in the night” although I did hear later of one romance
which seemed to be more than that.
On the 28th about 3 p.m. we arrived at Bombay. The first
thing one sees on entering the harbour is a huge memorial
of the great war, called The Gateway of India. I went ashore
with a party of friends in intense heat, sightseeing. I was
impressed by the town and the good solid buildings and
shops, which had quite an English air about them.
We hired a car and went all around Malabar Hill, and paid
a brief visit to the wonderful hanging gardens, and all the
rare and lovely flowers there. Having seen all this beauty we
decided to go to the Crawford Market, and see the other
side of the town. This is a huge covered-in market place,
for fruit, vegetables, brass ware, carpets, curios and almost
everything else one can think of. The beggars in this quarter
are so persistent and the cripples, all along the street in
dozens, make one feel so unhappy we did not spend very
long in that quarter, but during my brief visit I full realised
the awful conditions under which these people must exist,
to render them into this filthy and crippled state.
After a visit to the Taj Mahal Hotel to which everyone
who goes to Bombay seems to pay a visit, we were quite glad
to get back to the ship.
The last two days on the ship seemed to be taken up by
packing and good-byes, and on the Saturday night before I
was due at Colombo I felt quite sorry to leave all these kind
friends, who had made my voyage such a pleasant one.
What shall I say of my arrival at Colombo on Oct 31st?
We were due in the harbour about 6.30 a.m., but long
before my stewardess came to call me at 5.30 a.m., I was up
and dressed and as we sailed into Colombo harbour I could

hardly realise that I had actually come to the end of my sea
voyage, and that I would so soon meet my husband.
When a big liner gets into harbour there are many
formalities before anyone can board the ship, and all these
take a considerable time, at each port, but at Colombo they
seemed to me to take twice as long and it was 7.30 a.m.
before the launches were allowed out to the ship and I saw
my husband waving to me from a lovely little white launch
called “The Jean”.
As promised he was the first man on the ship and
although I had looked forward so much to seeing him walk
up the gangway, I was so thrilled that at the very critical
moment I had to turn away to compose myself, and so I
did not see him until he stepped onto the ship where I was
standing at the top of the gangway. We had a long chat in
my cabin and although I had arranged about my luggage
and my passport and had done my tipping I had quite
forgotten about breakfast so we had it together while my
kindly table steward beamed upon me, with his dark face,
white teeth and flashing smile as much as to say “well you
are alright now”. We stayed about half an hour on the ship
saying good-byes and then I landed in lovely Ceylon.
Cyril Hagger is part of a long established Melbourn Hagger
family. James Hagger a saddler came to Melbourn around 1790.
His son Joseph Ellis Hagger inherited the family business from his
grandfather in 1824. J. E. Hagger and Son – described as Collar &
Harness Maker, Dealer in Oil, Cutlery, Ironmongery, Rope, Hemp
– continued trading until 1930. The shop was situated at what is
now the Post Office in the High Street.
Isa was born in Scotland and met Cyril when he was there on
a business trip to Scotland. They married in 1919 and had two
daughters, Morag and Sheina. In 1924 the family moved to The
Maples, in Orchard Road in Melbourn.

Cyril, Sheina, Morag and
Isa Hagger in their garden
in Orchard Road, Melbourn
in the late 1920s